Sept. 23 (UPI) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have made a significant recommendation to safeguard newborn babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by endorsing a new Pfizer vaccine. RSV is a commonly known virus.
In a news release issued on Friday, the agency stated that the vaccine should be administered to pregnant women in a single dosage between weeks 32 and 36 of pregnancy.
An advisory panel voted 11-1 in favor of the recommendation. The rationale behind the lone opposing vote remains unclear.
While the vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month, it still required an endorsement from the CDC.
Pfizer’s new bivalent RSVpreF vaccine, marketed as Abrysvo, has demonstrated a 57% reduction in RSV-related hospitalizations for infants within the first six months after birth.
The approval follows Pfizer’s remarkable accomplishment of generating $100 billion in revenue in 2022, largely attributed to its COVID-19 vaccine, despite the ongoing public health crisis.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen encouraged parents to discuss with their doctors about protecting their infants against severe RSV illness, be it through the vaccine given during pregnancy or an RSV immunization administered to the baby after birth.
The RSVpreF vaccine is the first one approved for pregnant women to protect newborn babies from RSV. Additionally, the CDC recently recommended a single dose of nirsevimab for all infants under 8 months of age born or entering their first RSV season.
For infants and children aged 8-19 months who are at higher risk for severe RSV disease and entering their second RSV season, the CDC also recommended a single dose of nirsevimab. This immunization significantly lowers the risk of RSV-related hospitalizations and healthcare visits in infants by approximately 80%.
In an earlier statement, the CDC mentioned that a different monoclonal antibody, palivizumab, is limited to children under 24 months of age with specific conditions that put them at a heightened risk of severe RSV disease. This antibody must be administered monthly during the RSV season.
This fall and winter, the CDC-recommended vaccines are available for all three major respiratory viruses circulating: COVID-19, RSV, and flu.
