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CDC updates RSV vaccine recommendations for ages 60 and older
The updated recommendations reflect a June 2024 vote from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
On August 6, 2024, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines in adults ages 60 and older. The updated recommendations are based on a vote from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) conducted on June 26, 2024.
These recommendations are an update to the previously issued CDC reccomendations in 2023. The CDC states, “The 2023 shared clinical decision-making RSV vaccination recommendation was made in the setting of uncertainty in some portions of the evidence profile.” However, more evidence has informed the updated guidelines.
In short, the new guidelines encourage all adults ages 75 and older and individuals who are between 60 and 74 with an elevated risk of getting severe RSV to get the RSV vaccine. For adults between 60 and 74 years, an elevated risk of severe RSV may be a result of a chronic medical condition, being moderately or severely immunocompromised, or living in a nursing home.
According to the CDC, the reccomendations made by the ACIP Work Group for RSV prevention in adults have met once a month since July 2023 to consider its suggestions for RSV vaccination in adults. The committee used the Evidence to Recommendation Framework to make its final decision on RSV vaccines for older individuals.
The first RSV vaccine, Arexvy, manufactured by GSK, was approved by the FDA in May 2023. It is a dual-component vaccine with recombinant subunit prefusion RSV F glycoprotein antigen (RSVPreF3) and an AS01E adjuvant.
Originally, Arexvy was the only FDA-approved RSV vaccine for older adults. However, since this approval, two other RSV vaccines have come to market. The Pfizer RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, is also a protein subunit vaccine. The CDC estimates the effectiveness of protein subunit RSV vaccines ranges from 75% to 82%.
The other approved vaccine is an mRNA RSV vaccine manufactured by Moderna: mResvia. The CDC estimates that this vaccine is about 78.7% effective.
Regardless of which vaccine is appropriate based on the patient’s health history, vaccination and its critical role in RSV prevention are vital. In some cases, RSV vaccines can prevent illness altogether, while in others, they offer protection against severe versions of the disease, yielding better health outcomes.
