CDC Panel Backs RSV Vaccine for Seniors

THURSDAY, June 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- 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 GlaxoSmithKline called Arexvy and a version from Pfizer 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 for severe disease from the virus, CBS News reported. The vaccine trials did have a small number of very rare, but severe, "inflammatory neurologic events." 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," José Romero, M.D., director of the CDC 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.

CBS News Article