• Posted June 22, 2023

CDC Panel Backs RSV Shots for Seniors

An advisory panel of the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted on Wednesday to recommend the first RSV vaccines for seniors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved the vaccines, one made by GSK called Arexvy and a version from Pfizer Inc. called Abrysvo.

During the meeting, the panel called for “shared clinical decision-making” between doctors and patients to discuss benefits and risks, but stopped short of recommending that all seniors get the shots.

Younger seniors, those in their early 60s, will have fewer risks of severe disease from the virus, CBS News reported. The vaccine trials did have a small number of very rare, but severe, "inflammatory neurologic events."

"Lives, hospitalizations, we could have a significant impact this year. So that's why we wouldn't want to delay further," panel chair Dr. Camille Kotton said during the meeting, CBS News reported.

CDC officials plan to closely follow data from vaccine safety systems as seniors begin getting the RSV vaccines.

"I want to remind everyone that we have one of the best vaccine safety systems in the world. We have the ability to rapidly acquire information, rapidly assess it and act on it. We saw that during the COVID pandemic, that system is viable and is in place," the CDC's Dr. José Romero, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told the panel, CBS News reported.

Prices have not been finalized, but GSK has said its vaccine could carry a price tag of $200 to $295 per dose. Pfizer has said its shot will be between $180 and $270, CBS News reported.

Infants may also soon have an RSV vaccine. The FDA is expected to consider those vaccines later this year.

"This field will undoubtedly change within the next five to 10 years. We'll learn a lot more. So we're trying to make a decision as best we can with the data we have now, at this time," Kotton said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on RSV.

SOURCE: CBS News