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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. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø will continue to monitor vaccine
supply. Updates about vaccine supply and shortages are available at .
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-ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø 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 ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø 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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