Current Vaccine Shortages & Delays
Last updated May 20, 2011

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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	No change to Routine Recommendation.
Rotavirus	No Updated May 27, 2010
Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis (DTaP and Tdap)	See note 2 updated May 20, 2011 See note 3 NEW May 18, 2011 See note 4	No change to Routine Recommendation.
Td	No
Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)	No
Pneumococcal Conjugated (PCV)	No
Pneumococcal Polysaccharide (PPV)	No
Inactivated Polio (IPV)	No
Measles, Mumps, & Rubella (MMR)	See note 5	See Q&As about monovalent M-M-R vaccines Oct 26, 2009
Influenza	No	Current information about influenza, see www.cdc.gov/flu
Varicella/Zoster	See note 6
Hepatitis A	See note 7	No change in Routine Recommendation.
Conjugated Meningococcal (MCV4)	No
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)	No

Note¹: Merck's adult formulation of their hepatitis B vaccine is anticipated to return to market in the second half of 2011.  Production and supply of GSK's adult hepatitis B vaccine (Adult Engerix-B®) and Adult hepatitis A/hepatitis B combination vaccine (Twinrix®) currently are sufficient to meet demand for routine adult usage of this vaccine. Updated April 4, 2011

Note²: GSK is currently out of stock on the syringe and vial presentations presentation of DTaP-IPV (Kinrix®) through early July 2011. Alternative products include DTaP and IPV vaccines. Updated May 20, 2011

Note³:GSK anticipates an outage of the syringe presentation of DTaP (Infanrix®) through early July 2011, but anticipates that sufficient supply of the vial presentation will be available to meet demand for routine usage of this product as well as incremental demand due to lack of DTaP-IPV (Kinrix®) during the same time period. NEW May 18, 2011

Note⁴: In 2011, Sanofi Pasteur will discontinue the production of Tripedia® (DTaP) and TriHIBit® (DTaP-Hib) Supplies are expected to last through Q2 2011.
NEW April 4, 2011

Note⁵: Based on input from the ACIP, professional societies, scientific leaders, and customers on October 26, 2009 Merck announced the company has decided not to resume production of ATTENUVAX® (Measles Virus Vaccine Live), MUMPSVAX® (Mumps Virus Vaccine Live), and MERUVAX®II (Rubella Virus Vaccine Live). This science-based decision will support vaccination of the largest group of appropriate individuals. Updated January 27, 2010

Note⁶: Merck’s MMRV (ProQuad®) is unavailable to order for the remainder of 2011. Merck is committed to returning MMRV (ProQuad) to the market; details on timing and availability will be provided at a later date. Merck has adequate supply of both their MMR and varicella vaccines to meet current demand. Updated April 5, 2011

Note⁷: The Adult formulation of hepatitis A vaccine (VAQTA®) from Merck will not be available in 2011. Production and supply of GSK's adult hepatitis A vaccine (Adult Havrix®) and hepatitis A/hepatitis B combination vaccine (Twinrix®) currently are sufficient to meet demand for routine adult usage of this vaccine. Updated April 4, 2011

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.
• 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 vaccines shortages page on CDC's Vaccines & Immunizations site is updated as needed to provide public information on vaccine shortages and/or delays.

The FDA's web page on Biological Product Shortages provides additional information regarding regulatory issues related to vaccine supply.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Those acronyms and abbrevations not already spelled out above include

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
GSK - GlaxoSmithKline
MMRV - Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella combination vaccine
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
• Standards for Immunization Practices for children & adolescents and adults

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
• Hib (2007-09)
• Menactra (2006)
• Flu (2004)
• Prevnar (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004)
• Varivax (2001, 2002)
• MMR (2001, 2002)
• Tetanus (2000, 2001)
• DTaP (2000, 2001)