CDC recommends Pfizer, GSK shots for older adults

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday respected Single-dose RSV vaccine for adults 60 and older Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline after consulting their physician.

Outgoing CDC director Rochelle Valensky signed off on the recommendations made last week by an advisory panel of outside experts.That endorsement said Seniors should communicate with their A healthcare provider decides if the injection is right for them.

The CDC said it expects to make the vaccine available to the public this fall, when RSV, along with COVID-19 and flu, typically begin to circulate at higher levels.

“These vaccines present an opportunity to help protect older adults from severe RSV disease at a time when transmission of multiple respiratory infections is possible,” the CDC said in a statement.

The virus is a common respiratory infection that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms, but more severe symptoms can occur in the elderly and children. per year, RSV to kill According to the CDC, there are 6,000 to 10,000 seniors and hundreds of children under the age of 5.

Valensky’s decision comes a month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccines, making them the world’s first authorized RSV vaccines.

Spokespeople for Pfizer and GSK did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Late-stage clinical data from the two companies last week showed that their respective vaccines typically maintain protection against RSV well past the season of the virus, which typically runs from October to March in the United States.

But the panel expressed concern about the lack of efficacy data for the subgroup of older adults at greatest risk for severe RSV.

Dr. Michael Melgar, a CDC medical officer who reviewed the data for both vaccines, told an advisory panel meeting that adults 75 and older were tested in both companies’ Phase 3 clinical trials. and the underrepresentation of people with underlying medical conditions.

Older people with weakened immune systems were completely excluded from the trial, he said.

Both companies said studies in these populations are ongoing.

The CDC team also raised concerns about the price of the vaccine, which could limit access for some Americans.

GlaxoSmithKline said its vaccine will be priced between $200 and $295. Pfizer said its vaccine will be priced between $180 and $270.

The companies declined to vouch for pricing.

Pfizer has also developed a vaccine to protect newborns from RSV infection.

An FDA advisory panel backed the shot last month but raised safety concerns about possible premature births linked to the shot. The FDA is expected to make a final decision on the vaccine in August.