CDC Updates RSV Vaccine Guidance for Seniors

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed its recommendations regarding Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccines for seniors ahead of the upcoming respiratory viral season and is now recommending the shot for all seniors over 75, without the need for evaluation from a healthcare professional.

In a June 26 press release, the health agency also confirmed it has narrowed the criteria for those aged 60-74 to receive the shots.

The agency now recommends the RSV vaccine for everyone over the age of 75, and in people aged 60 to 74 who are at “increased risk of severe RSV,” meaning they have certain chronic medical conditions, such as chronic heart disease, advanced-stage kidney disease, chronic lung illnesses and severe obesity, or live in nursing homes.

Last year the CDC endorsed an RSV shot for people aged 60 and older only if they had consulted with their healthcare providers about whether or not to get the shot.

The CDC’s updated recommendation is based on those from a committee of outside scientific advisers—the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices —and now becomes the government’s updated guidance to doctors and health care professionals.

While the CDC generally follows its advisers’ recommendations, the final decision rests with the agency’s director, Dr. Mandy Cohen.

In accepting the panel’s recommendation, Dr. Cohen said the new advice will “prioritize those at highest risk for serious illness” from RSV and grant them an “extra layer of protection.”

The recommendation is for adults who did not get an RSV vaccine last year, the health agency noted.

The latest recommendation is based on an analysis of RSV disease burden among people 60 and older, as well as RSV vaccine effectiveness and cost-effectiveness studies, the CDC said.

What Are the Symptoms of RSV?

It is meant to “simplify RSV vaccine decision-making for clinicians and the public,” according to the CDC.

The health agency noted that the RSV vaccine is not currently an annual vaccine, meaning people do not need a dose every RSV season.

Two RSV vaccines have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people over 60: Pfizer’s Abrysvo and GlaxoSmithKline’s Arexvy shots.

Moderna received approval from the FDA for its shot, mRESVIA, for the same age group last month.

“Eligible adults can get an RSV vaccine at any time, but the best time to get vaccinated is in late summer and early fall before RSV usually starts to spread in communities,” the health agency said.

RSV is a common respiratory virus that typically causes mild illness and symptoms such as a runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing, wheezing, and fever in most healthy adults.

It is transmitted primarily through respiratory droplets when a person coughs or sneezes, or through direct contact with a contaminated surface.

Most people who become infected with flu or RSV tend to have mild symptoms and recover quickly, within a few weeks, and do not require hospitalization.

However, in some individuals, such as older adults, infants younger than six months of age, and those with weakened immune systems, chronic heart or lung disease, or other underlying health issues, it can develop into a severe infection such as bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia, requiring hospitalization.

The CDC estimates that between 60,000 and 160,000 older adults in the United States are hospitalized and 6,000-10,000 die each year due to RSV infection.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.