Sunday, January 26, 2014

India Vaccine News - Chicken pox vaccine shortage likely to continue in India

At present we are facing a chronic shortage of Chicken Pox vaccines in India. Okavax (Sanofi) is not available at present, while Varilrix (GSK) has remained short for many months now, and is recently been made available. Varivax (VHB Pharma) is also running short, and supply issues are likely to remain in the near future. 
The situation has worsened partly because for the last couple of years, IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatrics), the parent body of Pediatricians in India has formulated new guidelines (in line with the US guidelines) of recommending a booster dose of Chicken Pox vaccine at 5 years (along with the MMR vaccine booster). You can get more information about the new guidelines on the IAP website here

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