[10] A live, attenuated single-dose oral vaccine is available for those traveling to an area where cholera is common but is not WHO approved for public health use.

[16] They were the first widely used vaccines that were made in a laboratory but were largely abandoned in the 1970s due to their then-documented reactogenicity and poor efficacy.

[10] In the late 20th century, oral cholera vaccines started to be used on a massive scale, with millions of vaccinations taking place, as a tool to control cholera outbreaks in addition to the traditional interventions of improving safe water supplies, sanitation, handwashing, and other means of improving hygiene.

[10] The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends both preventive and reactive use of the vaccine, making the following key statements:[20] WHO recommends that currently available cholera vaccines be used as complements to traditional control and preventive measures in areas where the disease is endemic and should be considered in areas at risk for outbreaks.

The administration of the vaccine to adults confers additional indirect protection (herd immunity) also to children.

As of 2013[update], the WHO established a revolving stockpile, initially of only 2 million oral cholera vaccine doses.

[22] With donations from mainly the GAVI Alliance the stockpile has progressively expanded to now more than 40 million doses per year.

In total more than 150 million doses from the stockpile have been given in mass campaigns against both epidemic and endemic cholera in more than 25 cholera-affected countries.

Bacterial strains of both Inaba and Ogawa serotypes and of El Tor and Classical biotypes are included in the vaccine.

[10] A live, attenuated oral vaccine (CVD 103-HgR or Vaxchora), derived from a serogroup O1 classical Inaba strain, was approved for use in travellers by the US FDA in 2016.

[10] In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vaxchora,[15][14][27] a single-dose oral vaccine to prevent cholera for travelers.