CDC panel recommends RSV vaccine for pregnant women as extra protection

The advisory committee on immunizations for the Centers for DIsease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted to recommend an RSV vaccine designed to give newborn infants protection against the virus before they’re born.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 11-1 in favor of approving Pfizer’s Abrysvo for use in pregnant women during weeks 32 through 36 of gestation.

The vaccine is designed to induce antibodies in pregnant mothers who will then pass those on to their children, giving them protection in the first 6 months of life when they are particularly vulnerable to severe cases of disease.

The CDC recommended the vaccine almost immediately after ACIP’s vote was recorded.

“To maximize protection for babies after birth, CDC recommends seasonal administration of one dose of RSV vaccine for pregnant people during weeks 32 through 36 of pregnancy,” the agency said in a statement.

“This is another new tool we can use this fall and winter to help protect lives,” said CDC Director Mandy Cohen. “I encourage parents to talk to their doctors about how to protect their little ones against serious RSV illness, using either a vaccine given during pregnancy, or an RSV immunization given to your baby after birth.”

The CDC said it expects the shot to become more widely available in the coming weeks.

The cost of the vaccine is listed as $295, though insurers should be expected to cover the cost of the shot if the CDC signs off on the committee’s recommendation.

Abrysvo has already been approved for use in adults over the age of 60 in preventing lower respiratory tract disease brought on by RSV infection.

“This fall marks the start of the annual respiratory infection season in the Northern Hemisphere, and we are prepared with vaccines against multiple infectious diseases and — for the first time in history — an available RSV vaccine to help prevent disease in two at-risk populations,” said Luis Jodar, Pfizer’s chief medical affairs officer for vaccine and antivirals.

Last month, the CDC also signed off on a monoclonal antibody treatment from Sanofi called Beyfortus to prevent RSV in infants under 8 months entering their first viral season or for children between 8 and 19 months who are at an increased risk of severe illness and are entering their second viral season.

Many hospitals were overwhelmed with pediatric patients infected with RSV last winter, which highlighted the lack of available options in preventing and treating the virus. Before this year, there were no approved RSV vaccines and there was only one treatment for infections, a monoclonal antibody typically reserved for infants who are at the highest risk of severe illness.

—Updated at 4:50 p.m.