U.S.-Licensed Yellow Fever Vaccine Supply to be Depleted by Mid-2017

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines a plan to ensure a continuous yellow fever vaccine supply in the United States following the anticipated depletion of the U.S.-licensed YF-VAX® yellow fever vaccine in mid-2017, according to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published April 28, 2017.

In 2016, a manufacturing issue at Sanofi Pasteur limited the production of YF-VAX, and no yellow fever vaccine is expected to be available by mid-2017. YF-VAX is the only yellow fever vaccine licensed for use in the United States and is distributed to approximately 4,000 clinic sites.

Because yellow fever is a potentially serious disease, CDC and Sanofi Pasteur collaborated on a plan to distribute limited quantities of Stamaril yellow fever vaccine to prevent people from becoming infected by the virus until production of YF-VAX resumes at a new facility in 2018. Stamaril is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur in France and distributed in more than 70 countries. In October 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug protocol that allows for the distribution of Stamaril® to designated U.S. clinic sites until YF-VAX production resumes.

To ensure broad accessibility to limited quantities of the Stamaril vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur and CDC targeted clinic sites that administered a high volume of yellow fever vaccine to international travelers in 2016 or can provide coverage to an area of geographic need.  Based on these criteria, Sanofi Pasteur identified approximately 250 U.S. clinics to distribute Stamaril. This is a significant decrease from the approximately 4,000 clinic sites that distribute YF-VAX.

When YF-VAX is no longer available, CDC will publish a list of clinic sites offering Stamaril at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellow-fever-vaccination-clinics/search/.

Source: CDC