Will the Yellow Fever Vaccine Shortage Continue?

Now that the Yellow Fever vaccine is in limited supply, what would happen if this virus became a worldwide epidemic?

The current outbreak started in Africa in 2016 leading to the depletion of most of the yellow fever vaccine stockpiles. According to new research, the supply of immediately available yellow fever vaccine is only about 5–6 million doses.

These researchers report the total population living in countries with Aedes mosquitoes, who are known to spread the yellow fever virus, is estimated to be more than 3 billion people.

Because of increased international travel, the yellow fever could be on the verge of exploding out of central Africa and spreading to various countries.

As an example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a Level 2 Travel Alert for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a yellow fever hot-zone. Rio de Janeiro has nearly 16 million people at risk for this virus.

When yellow fever enters an urban cycle the virus’s transmission can occur quickly in overcrowded environments.

“The extensive outbreak of yellow fever now occurring in Brazil deserves careful attention by world health authorities”, noted Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

As such, researchers with the Lancet Infectious Diseases have calculated the number vaccines needed to achieve the 80% population coverage as defined by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Strategy to Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics.

Using the WHO 2016 data sets, these researchers estimate that 383 to 461 million individuals would require vaccinations to achieve the 80% population coverage goal recommended by WHO.

Which means, the demand is far greater than the annual production of yellow fever vaccines.

The present annual yellow fever vaccine production from the world's vaccine manufacturers is only about 80 million doses per year. The manufacturing process requiring embryonated chicken eggs limits the volume of vaccine produced.

The manufacturer of YF-VAX, the only yellow fever vaccine authorized in the USA, has now confirmed this product is no longer available.

Sanofi Pasteur has worked with the Food and Drug Administration to make another yellow fever vaccine available in the USA. Manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur in France, this vaccine, STAMARIL, is currently distributed in over 70 countries.

However, STAMARIL is considered investigational in the USA, as it is not a US-licensed product. Which means, Sanofi Pasteur can only support a limited number of distribution sites.

According to International Health Regulations, the yellow fever vaccine must be administered at certified vaccination centers. Healthcare providers and pharmacists are authorized to administer the vaccine by state health departments.

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease caused by infection with the yellow fever virus, a flavivirus primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.

According to the CDC, there is no specific treatment for yellow fever.

Health care providers and patients may find locations that can administer STAMARIL vaccine by visiting the CDC web page. Providers and patients may also visit the CDC Travelers' Health for information about which countries require yellow fever vaccination for entry and for which countries the CDC recommends getting the yellow fever vaccination.