Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:
Current Vaccine Shortages & Delays
Last Updated August 12, 2009
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This web page contains the latest national information about vaccine supplies and provides guidance to healthcare providers who are facing vaccine shortages or delays.
*Note: Only those vaccines included on the recommended childhood and adolescent immunization schedule are included in this update.
Chart of Vaccines* in Delay or Shortage
(Vaccines are listed in order used for the Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.)
| National Vaccine Supply Shortages | ||
|---|---|---|
Vaccine |
Shortage |
Temporary Change From Routine Recommendation |
| Hepatitis B | See note 1,2 |
No Change in Routine Recommendation for children or adults. Hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine supply constraints: questions and answers for infants, children, and adult providers July 10, 2009
Protecting infants against hepatitis B virus infection when using Pentacel® vaccine during the Hib vaccine shortage |
| Rotavirus | No | |
| Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis (DTaP and Tdap) | No | |
| Td | No | |
| Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) | See note 3 | Provider letter from CDC about reinstatement of Hib booster dose Hib return to booster Q&A – for providers and parents July 1, 2009 See MMWR: Updated Recs for Use of Hib Vaccine: Reinstatement of Booster Dose at Ages 12-15 Months July 1, 2009 |
| Pneumococcal Conjugated (PCV) | No | |
| Pneumococcal Polysaccharide (PPV) | No | |
| Inactivated Polio (IPV) | No | |
| Measles, Mumps, & Rubella (MMR) | See note 4 |
See Q&As about monovalent M-M-R vaccines Feb 9, 2009 |
| Influenza | No | Current information about influenza, see www.cdc.gov/flu |
| Varicella/Zoster | See note 5 |
|
| Hepatitis A | See note 6 |
No change in Routine Recommendation.
|
| Conjugated Meningococcal (MCV4) | No | |
| Human Papillomavirus (HPV) | No | |
(PDF 30KB)
(.DOC 29KB)Note1: Merck expects supplies of its pediatric hepatitis B vaccine to be limited during the remainder of 2009 and does not expect to return to a full supply until some time in 2010. GSK will supply additional product to the US beginning in September 2009 in order to assure a sufficient supply. The summer months of July and August are anticipated to have the tightest supply, but CDC has determined that available pediatric monovalent supply will remaing sufficient to support routine immunization during that time period if providers continue to order vaccine judiciously. July 3, 2009
Note2: Merck's adult and dialysis formulations of their hepatitis B vaccine, Recombivax HB® will not be available in 2009. Merck expects to return to full supply some time in 2010. Supply of GSK's adult hepatitis B vaccine (Adult Engerix-B®) and Adult hepatitis A/hepatitis B combination vaccine (Twinrix®) is sufficient to meet demand for routine adult usage of this vaccine as well as CDC's ongoing High Risk Adult Hepatitis B Initiative. July 3, 2009
Note3: Effective July 1, 2009, CDC, in consultation with ACIP, AAFP, and AAP, is recommending reinstatement of the booster dose of Hib vaccine for children aged 12--15 months who have completed the primary 3-dose series. Sanofi pasteur is supplying additional hib-containing vaccines to the US market beginning July 2009 to support the return to a complete hib vaccination schedule at this time. Merck is working with regulatory authorities with a goal of making a limited supply of PedvaxHIB® available in Q4 of 2009, with full availability of product in Q1 of 2010. The market return of Comvax® will be dependent upon the supply situation for both hib and hepatitis B vaccine components. July 3, 2009
Note4: ATTENUVAX® (measles vaccine), MUMPSVAX® (mumps vaccine) and MERUVAX® (rubella vaccine) are currently not available for order. In the future, Merck plans to resume production of these monovalent vaccines, provided they have sufficient manufacturing resources to do so while also continuing to fully supply M-M-R II and VARIVAX. Merck does not anticipate these monovalents will be available for at least two years given their current expectations regarding vaccine manufacturing capacity. July 3, 2009
Note5: Merck expects ProQuad® (MMRV) to return to the US market with full availability in the first half of 2010. July 3, 2009
Note6: The Adult formulation of VAQTA® will not be available in 2009. GSK's production and supply of their adult hepatitis A vaccine (Adult Havrix®) and their adult hepatitis A/hepatitis B combination vaccine (Twinrix®) are in adequate supply to meet current demand for adult hepatitis A vaccination. July 3, 2009
Why are there vaccine shortages?
In the United States shortages of many vaccines in the recommended childhood immunization schedule occurred in the past. Some of these shortages were widespread while others were localized. Reasons for these shortages were multi-factorial and included companies leaving the vaccine market, manufacturing or production problems, and insufficient stockpiles. Consequently, some shortages were only specific to one manufacturer.
Shortages of several of these vaccines necessitated temporary changes in recommendations for their use. During that period, summary information about the shortages including projected duration and recommendations for temporary changes in the childhood immunization schedule were provided.
Who can I contact to answer my questions?
-
Questions including those dealing with changes in child care and school requirements necessitated by vaccine supply problems when they occur can be answered by
State Health Department immunization programs at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/international/relres.html
General immunization questions can be answered by
The CDC Contact Center at 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636) English and Español
How often will this information be updated?
This page on the NCIRD web site www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/shortages/ is updated as needed to provide public information on vaccine shortages and/or delays.
The FDA's web page on Biological Product Shortages www.fda.gov/cber/shortage/shortage.htm 
provides additional information regarding regulatory issues related to vaccine supply.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
AAFP - American Academy of Family Physicians
AAP - American Academy of Pediatrics
ACIP - Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
FDA - Food and Drug Administration
GAO - United States General Accounting Office
MMWR - Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
NCIRD - National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
TTY - teletypewriter
Other acronyms
Related Information
- Status of Licensure and Recommendations for New Vaccines
- ACIP Provisional Vaccine Recommendations
- Influenza Vaccination Recommendations
- Childhood & Adolescent Immunization Schedules
- Adult Immunization Schedule
Other Shortages and Delays
- On June 30, CDC's Travelers' Health web section updated its yellow fever vaccine supply statement. July 2008
- On August 29, CDC's Rabies site updated its status on the rabies vaccine supply. Sept. 2008
Links to non-federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the federal government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.
Content last reviewed on February 10, 2009
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases