Temporary Suspension of McKinley Rabies Preexposure Vaccination Program

McKinley Health Center has temporarily suspended our preexposure prophylaxis immunization program because of an interruption in the U.S. supply of rabies vaccine.

The United States Centers for Disease Control has ordered all U.S. providers to delay giving any preexposure vaccinations until the vaccine shortage has ended.

Both of the US-licensed rabies human vaccine manufacturers have halted sales of their vaccines for preexposure prophylaxis.

Rabies preexposure prophylaxis is taken by individuals at high-risk of rabies exposure, including veterinarians, veterinary medicine students, animal care workers, and laboratorians who potentially work with rabies virus. It consists of a series of three rabies vaccine shots.

Postexposure vaccination follows a potential exposure,a series of five shots of vaccine and one shot of rabies immune globin given to an unvaccinated individual, or two vaccine shots are given to the a previously vaccinated individual.

The vast majority of rabies vaccine used in the United States is given for preexposure prophylaxis. The purpose of the CDC order is to preserve an adequate national supply of vaccine for postexposure prophylaxis.

Postexposure vaccination is NOT affected by the preexposure vaccine supply shortage. McKinley Health Center will be able to vaccinate students who have suffered a potentially rabid animal bite. University employees suffering a potential exposure are cared for through a local university-contracted occupational medicine department.

See http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/ for more information.

McKinley Health Center provides many rabies vaccinations each year to new animal care staff, researchers, and veterinary medicine students. We abhore the inconvenience that the shortage could cause to our patients and their programs. We are anxious to begin our preexposure prophylaxis program as soon as we possibly can.

The vaccine shortage is projected to last at least until July. We will update this notice as we learn more and we will continue to partner with campus stakeholder units.

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