New Jersey health officials hold first public test of tracking system.

2003 JAN 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Public health officials from around New Jersey participated in the state's first public field trial of an innovative vaccination tracking system at the Hunterdon County Administration Building in Flemington.

The field test of the New Jersey Vaccination Information Tracking And Logistics System (NJ-VITALS), a database specifically designed to capture information essential to smallpox vaccination, was held to prepare for vaccination of up to 15,000 public health and health care workers. Vaccination was slated to begin in late January or early February 2003 pending federal approval.

Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD), a medical technology company in Franklin Lakes, developed the system on which NJ-VITALS is based - the BD Bio-Terror Preparedness Network - for possible nationwide use. As part of an agreement announced in October, New Jersey is the first state to pilot-test the mobile smallpox vaccination tracking system.

"This public-private partnership with BD affords New Jersey access to leading edge technology to facilitate implementation of this first wave of smallpox preparedness vaccination," said Clifton R. Lacy, MD, commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Health and Senior Services. "This field test is an excellent opportunity for state and local health departments to assess our plans to implement a vaccination program, not just for smallpox, but also for other vaccine-preventable outbreaks, such as influenza pandemics."

The vaccinations will be the first phase of a voluntary immunization program outlined in New Jersey's smallpox vaccination preparedness plan submitted December 9, 2002 to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Upon approval by the CDC, the plan will serve as a blueprint for public health officials, hospitals and other health care institutions, emergency workers and the public in the event of an ...