As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that only one-quarter of older adults have received their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, the American Lung Association (ALA) is launching a new campaign aimed at increasing those rates and spreading awareness about the disease.
The world’s first RSV vaccines were approved by the FDA last year in the forms of GSK’s Arexvy and Pfizer’s Abrysvo. Both are designed to help prevent this common cold virus that can in the very young and older adults cause serious and sometimes fatal respiratory complications.
About 160,000 older adults in the U.S. are hospitalized due to the virus each year, with as many as 10,000 succumbing to the infection. RSV season typically starts in the fall and continues through winter.
However, new data from the CDC and referenced by the ALA have found that, despite these new vaccines being on the market for the past year and fall now upon us, only 24% of older adults have taken up the shots.
To boost awareness and push up vaccine rates, the ALA is running a new education campaign that comes with a new website that has videos and RSV messaging, with much focus on vaccines. The campaign is “supported” by GSK.
Both GSK and Pfizer will also want RSV vaccine rates to go up to help build out sales of both shots, which are expected to produce blockbuster sales.
“RSV poses a serious threat, particularly to older adults and those with certain chronic medical conditions. Raising awareness about protection through vaccination is critical to saving lives and reducing hospitalizations during the respiratory virus season,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the ALA, in a release.
“We encourage individuals 60 and older to talk to their healthcare providers about whether RSV vaccination is recommended for them.”