Yellow Fever Vaccines

Yellow Fever Vaccine Availability May 2025

Effective yellow fever (YF) vaccines are available in the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 2025. YF vaccines have been listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for decades.  According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Yellow Book 2026, yellow fever vaccination is recommended for people aged nine months or older who are traveling to or living in areas at risk for the yellow fever virus. The WHO, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the CDC state that a single yellow fever vaccination can provide protection and promote sustained yellow fever immunity in approximately 90% of people vaccinated. The 17D yellow fever vaccine was initially approved for human use in 1938. However, 17D never underwent phase III clinical trials to evaluate safety or efficacy. 

Yellow Fever Vaccines 2025

According to a study in Nature, approximately 850 million 17D vaccine doses have been distributed since authorization. In 2023, nearly 62 million individuals received vaccinations under the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) strategy. Reports in 2023 indicate a six million 17D-213 vaccine dose capacity in the global stockpile. 

YF-VAX® vaccine is licensed in the U.S. (BL 103915) and available at certified travel vaccine clinics and pharmacies. PCV13 co-administered with the YF vaccine does not affect seroresponse to the YF vaccine.

Stamaril® vaccine is available internationally in about 40 countries.

Sanofi's vYF-247 5 vaccine candidate Log CCID50 dose showed optimal viremia, safety, and immunogenicity in a first-in-human phase 1 clinical trial and was chosen for subsequent development. vYF-247 was cloned from YF-VAX and adapted for growth in serum-free Vero cells.

Bio-Manguinhos Yellow fever vaccine - The National Immunization Program offers the yellow fever vaccine in Brazil.

Institut Pasteur Yellow fever vaccine is produced at the Institut Pasteur in Dakar. The WHO approved the laboratory to supply the yellow fever vaccine to Expanded Programs on Immunization in Africa.

Chumakov Institute Yellow fever vaccine - The Chumakov Center is a research organization in medical virology. The vaccine is a freeze-dried virus-containing suspension of specific pathogen-free chick embryo tissues infected with attenuated Yellow Fever virus, strain 17D. 

RegaVax is a vaccine candidate that utilizes the genetic code of the yellow fever vaccine virus as a carrier (or vector) for the coronavirus's genetic code.

Najít Technologies HydroVax-002 YFV is a Novel Inactivated Yellow Fever vaccine candidate conducting phase 1 clinical research with the NIH. The study evaluated 1 mcg and 5 mcg dosages, administered intramuscularly on Day 1 and Day 29.

SII YFV, containing the 17D-213 vaccine strain, has been developed in India. A Phase I study evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of healthy adult volunteers. This YFV was found safe and immunogenic by IM and SC routes. 

Yellow Fever Vaccine Boosters

In Brazil, the standard presentation should include an additional dose for individuals who received the fractional dose of the yellow fever vaccine in 2018 and who will travel to areas with proven virus circulation in 2025.

The Lancet Global Health published results from a systematic review and meta-analysis in January 2024, focusing on determining long-term immunity following yellow fever vaccination. The evidence suggests that a single dose of yellow fever vaccination provides lifelong protection for travelers. However, in people living with HIV and children (younger than two years), booster doses might still be required because lower proportions of vaccinees were seroprotected ten or more years post-vaccination. Pooled seroprotection rates were 94% (95% CI 86–99) among healthy adults in a non-endemic setting (mostly travelers) and 76% (65–85) in an endemic setting (all Brazilian studies). The pooled seroprotection rate was 47% (35–60) in children (aged 9–23 months at the time of vaccination) and 61% (38–82) in people living with HIV. 

The U.S. CDC states that a yellow fever vaccine booster dose is not necessary.

Yellow Fever Vaccine Fractional Dosage

On February 19, 2025, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an Original Article that concluded that a yellow fever vaccination dose as low as 500 IU was non-inferior to the standard dose of 13,803 IU for producing seroconversion within 28 days. The Lancet Infectious Diseases published an Opinion on April 28, 2023, stating that fractional dose yellow vaccination in an emergency or reactive mass vaccination campaign has become essential for stretching the limited vaccine stockpile over a much larger population. The Lancet published results from a clinical study in January 2021 (updated Feb. 2022, concluding, 'Fractional doses of all WHO-prequalified yellow fever vaccines were non-inferior to the standard dose in inducing seroconversion 28 days after vaccination, with no major safety concerns. These results support using fractional dosage in the general adult population for outbreak response in a vaccine shortage.' The WHO's initial position on fractional yellow fever vaccine was set out in the 2013 WHO position paper.

Yellow Fever Vaccine Breakthrough Cases

In January 2025, researchers reviewed 19 papers documenting breakthrough yellow fever infections between 1944 and 2023. There were up to 7793 suspected and up to 773 confirmed breakthrough cases reported in the literature, including thirteen cohort studies, four case reports, and two case series, which we summarize, evaluate the approaches used, and identify strengths and weaknesses. 

Yellow Fever Vaccination Card

The International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), the yellow card, is required to enter certain countries. For example, in the U.S., vaccinated individuals receive a yellow fever card (ICVP) to prove they have recently received yellow fever vaccinations, according to the WHO. Additionally, ICVP requirements are outlined in the WHO's Country List. The U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) updated yellow fever vaccination requirements for specific countries in 2025, and requirements are available on the CDC Travelers' Health webpage. 

Yellow Fever Vaccine Price

The CDC's Vaccines For Children program provides vaccines at no cost. Additionally, UNICEF publishes vaccine prices for children. Sanofi's Patient Connection® offers various vaccine price savings. Additionally, Sanofi offers live support specialists at (800) 633-1610 to address patients' questions.

Yellow Fever Travel Advisories

The U.S. CDC, the WHO, and the U.K. Travel Health Advice recently issued yellow fever Travel Advisories. As of 2025, news about yellow fever outbreaks is posted on Vax-Before-Travel. The YF virus is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus. The virus is transmitted to people via the bite of an infected mosquito.