Food and Drug Administration approves RSV vaccine

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - We are now one step closer to having protection from RSV in the form of a vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration has given their green light to the vaccine for ages 60 and older.

There are still a few more steps that need to happen before the shots go in arms.

Health experts are calling it a revolutionary break through. This is the furthest we’ve gotten to having a vaccine against RSV after trying and failing decades ago.

“From that time until now, we’ve always wanted a vaccine for RSV,” said Dr. Michael Kilkenny at Cabell-Huntington Health Department. “It causes so many hospitalizations, so much severe illness. It’s so disruptive.”

Kilkenny is keeping tabs on when this new vaccine will be available. The one closest to being fully approved is for ages 60 and older.

“The older age group, that most of us don’t think about, but RSV is going to cause more hospitalizations and more deaths in that older population than it does in those young children,” Kilkenny said.

The FDA has given its approval; now the CDC is taking its turn to make its decision.

“They’re going to look at the safety data, they’re going to look at how it was administered, the effectiveness, and all of the data there,” Kilkenny said. “They could still put a halt on it.”

Companies are ramping up their production of the vaccine while they wait for the CDC’s decision.

“That’s going to be in the next few months,” said Kilkenny. “We don’t expect this to be actually available until the fall.”

This could potentially make a drastic difference in RSV cases this season, compared to the record number of cases last season.

The CDC is currently in the middle of their clinical trials.

If this one gets approved, the next in line will be the RSV vaccine for pregnant women.

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