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Notice to Readers: Resumption of Routine Schedule for Varicella Vaccine
Supplies of varicella vaccine
(VARIVAX®) in the United States have become sufficient to permit the resumption of
the routine schedule as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
(1--3). Childcare and school attendance provisions requiring children to receive the varicella vaccine should be reinstituted.
A temporary shortage of varicella vaccine in the United States resulted from a voluntary interruption of
manufacturing operations by Merck & Co., Inc., the only U.S. manufacturer of varicella vaccine
(4). During the vaccine shortage, ACIP recommended the delay of the routine childhood varicella vaccine dose from age 12--18 months until age 18--24
months (1,2) and made additional recommendations for prioritizing use in the event of a persistent shortage
(4).
Health-care providers should review the vaccination status of their patients and administer varicella vaccine as
appropriate. Recall programs for deferred unvaccinated persons should be instituted. CDC will continue to monitor vaccine
supply. Updates about vaccine supply and shortages are available at http://www.cdc.gov/nip.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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