Yellow fever vaccine

Caitlin Soto, PharmD, BCIDP, Noreen A. Hynes, M.D., M.P.H., D.T.M.&H.

VACCINE TYPE

General Identification

Live, attenuated yellow fever virus

Vaccine Strain Characteristics

  • All currently manufactured yellow fever vaccines are live-attenuated, 17D-derived vaccines. A single standard dose provides long-lasting/lifelong protection for most people.
    • Derived from the original lot 17D yellow fever virus strain, created by repeatedly passing the wild-type virus in culture to attenuate its virulence while ensuring it would induce immunity in the vaccine recipient.
    • WHO recognizes current vaccines that use the 17D-204, 17DD, or 17D-213 substrains.
      • Four manufacturers currently have WHO-prequalified products.
      • YF-VAX is the only U.S.-licensed vaccine. Stamaril is the Sanofi product in the U.K. and many other countries.
  • A next-generation live-attenuated 17D-204 yellow fever vaccine (vYF), manufactured in a Vero cell line rather than embryonated eggs, is in clinical development and not yet licensed.

Non-Virus Constituents in the Vaccine

  • Excipients and residual manufacturing components vary by product; consult the product-specific labeling.
  • The vaccine is lyophilized for storage and must be reconstituted before use.
    • YF-VAX has to be prepared and administered within 60 minutes.
    • Some multidose WHO-prequalified products can be used for up to 6 hours/end of the vaccination session.

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.

Last updated: October 11, 2026