WHO advises using 1 dose of cholera vaccine due to shortage

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization and its partners are recommending that countries temporarily switch to using a single dose of the cholera vaccine instead of two due to a supply shortage as outbreaks of the water-borne disease surge globally.

In a statement on Wednesday, the U.N. agency and partners that include UNICEF and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said one dose of vaccine has proven effective in stopping outbreaks “even though evidence on the exact duration of protection is limited" and appears to be lower in children.

WHO and partner agencies manage a stockpile of cholera vaccines that are dispensed free to countries that need them.

“This last-resort decision is a way to avoid making the impossible choice of sending doses to one country over another,” said Dr. Daniela Garone, international medical coordinator at Doctors Without Borders, one of WHO’s partners in managing the global cholera vaccine stockpile. “Single dose vaccination will provide shorter protection, but it is the fair and equitable way to try and protect as many people as possible as we face simultaneous cholera outbreaks.”