Amid Shortage, UR Nursing's Passport Health One of Select Clinics Offering Yellow Fever Vaccination
The Passport Health clinic at the University of Rochester School of Nursing is among a limited number of sites chosen to administer yellow fever immunizations during a period of anticipated shortages of the vaccine nationwide.
Sonofi Pasteur produces and distributes the YF-VAX® yellow fever vaccine to more than 4,500 clinical sites across the United States, but the vaccine is currently unavailable for order until mid-2018 while the company transitions to a new production facility. To meet the ongoing needs of military personnel and international travelers, the company has worked closely with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to distribute Stamaril, a vaccine manufactured in France and distributed in more than 70 other countries, until U.S. production resumes later in 2018.
The Passport Health clinic in the UR School of Nursing is one of only 256 sites selected by Sanofi Pasteur and the FDA to administer Stamaril through an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug Program (EAP), which allows the temporary importation and use of the French vaccine in place of YF-VAX. Clinical sites were chosen based on a number of considerations, including the frequency with which clinics perform yellow fever vaccinations and their geographic region, in order to provide the broadest possible access for travelers heading to international destinations where the yellow fever vaccine is required or recommended.
“It’s a huge honor for our clinic to be one of the sites chosen to continue delivering yellow fever immunizations,” said Matthew Klapetzky, MS, RN-BC, clinical director of Passport Health at the UR School of Nursing. “There was a rather rigorous methodology set up to help select the sites, and the fact that our clinic was chosen speaks highly of the effort and care in which we’ve delivered these critical services to our community for more than 20 years.”
The UR clinic is one of more than 250 Passport Health locations across North America that provides pre-travel physicals, vaccinations, access to travel health insurance, and prescriptions for avoiding travel-related illnesses. The clinic specializes in yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, and meningitis vaccinations, and provides expertise on health alerts and Center for Disease Control recommendations.
In addition to travel medicine services, Passport Health responds to the area’s need for other vaccines, such as those for shingles, HPV, influenza, and hepatitis A and B, and provides other health-related educational and safety resources.
To set up an appointment at the UR Passport Health clinic, call 585-275-8884. For more information about yellow fever and for which countries the yellow fever vaccine is required or recommended, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.