June 30, 2023 – The CDC this week gave the green light to 2 latest vaccines to guard older adults from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
On Thursday, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, agreed with the recommendations Last week, CDC advisers announced that folks ages 60 and older can receive considered one of two latest vaccines against RSV. The decision must be made based on discussions with the person's doctor about whether the vaccine is acceptable for the patient, the federal health agency said.
The latest vaccines are the primary vaccines approved within the United States to guard against the respiratory disease and are expected to be available in the autumn.
On June 21, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent panel, didn't recommend the vaccines for everybody age 65 and older, regardless that that was the query the panel was originally alleged to address. The experts amended that query to ask whether the panel should recommend the vaccine for people age 65 and older if the person and their doctor agree. The panel voted 9-5 in favor.
RSV vaccines
RSV causes 6,000 to 10,000 deaths in people age 65 and older and 60,000 to 160,000 hospitalizations on this group every year within the United States. Seniors and young children are amongst probably the most vulnerable to this lower respiratory infection, which is characterised by runny nose, wheezing, sneezing, lack of appetite and fever.
The FDA approved two vaccines in May – Arexvy from GSK and Abrysvo from Pfizer – for adults aged 60 and over.
The vote, which recommends a collective decision on the vaccine relatively than routine vaccination for all, “is a weaker recommendation,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Schaffner is a nonvoting member of the ACIP. He attended the meeting.
He said experts had expressed concern about a variety of issues, including what some experts said was insufficient data from studies of probably the most vulnerable groups, reminiscent of nursing home residents.
The experts also wanted more information in regards to the duration of protection and when exactly a second dose is perhaps needed. At the meeting, a GSK representative said its vaccine was 84.6 percent effective after one and a half seasons, in comparison with 94.1 percent after one season. A Pfizer representative said its vaccine reduced the danger of RSV infection with three or more symptoms by 78.6 percent after one and a half seasons, in comparison with 88.9 percent after one season.
The panel also wanted more data on whether the RSV vaccines could possibly be given concurrently other vaccines really useful for adults.
Both corporations gave a variety of cost estimates. Pfizer expects its vaccine to cost between $180 and $270, but said it couldn't guarantee that range. GSK expects it to cost between $200 and $295. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, really useful vaccines are covered by Medicare for individuals with Part D plans, which is the case for 51 million of 65 million Medicare patients. Private insurers will likely cover the vaccines if the CDC recommends them.