Potential New Vaccine Blocks Fentanyl’s Deadly Effects, Say Researchers

Those targeted for the vaccine include those in rehabilitation clinics, as well as first responders and teenagers, who are at risk of accidental exposure.

Fentanyl users work off their drug-high on the sidewalks of the Tenderloin District in San Francisco, Calif., on May 16, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

More than 81,000 people died in 2023 due to synthetic opioid overdose, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 75,000 of those deaths were due to illicit fentanyl.

In comparison, the number of U.S. troops who died during the entire 20-year Vietnam war was 58,220, according to the National Archives.