CDC advisers endorse RSV vaccines for older adults
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A CDC advisory committee recommended Wednesday the use of two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines for older adults.
Why it matters: An RSV vaccine could become available for the first time in the U.S. this fall, as up to 10,000 people 65 and older die from the disease each year.
- The committee's recommendation also comes with a suggestion that doctors and patients make the final determination.
The big picture: After decades of failed attempts to make RSV shots available, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer’s RSV vaccines both gained FDA approval last month for people 60 and older.
Yes, but: A CDC workgroup on Wednesday said vaccinating the 60-to-64 age group was “not a reasonable and efficient allocation of resources” due to showing small-to-moderate effects.
- Panel members were split on whether to recommend those vaccines to everyone in that population or leave it up to doctors and patients to decide what's best.
- Others like Jason Goldman, a primary care physician, said that route could make it more challenging for insurance reimbursement since it’s not a clear-cut guideline.
Of note: Panel members also hesitated giving the vaccines their go-ahead since neither drugmaker had an established price.
- Pfizer estimates that one shot would be in the $180 to $270 range but said the range is not guaranteed.
- GSK said their shot would be between $200 and $295.
What they're saying: “I do think that the companies who make these vaccines are beholden to share costs with us,” said committee chair Camille Kotton, a transplant infectious diseases physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
- “I personally find it upsetting that GSK virtually doubled the cost of vaccine in recent times,” Kotton said. “I wonder what the future holds.
Details: GSK said Wednesday its single-dose vaccine might only need to be administered every other year.
- Its vaccine protected older adults from severe disease through two RSV seasons, but efficacy waned from 94% in the first season to 84.6% in the second, according to a nearly 25,000-person clinical trial.
- The efficacy of Pfizer’s vaccine was also slightly down from the initial 88.9% after 18 months but remained 78.6% efficacious against severe RSV with more than 3 symptoms, per a clinical trial of more than 34,000 people.
What to watch: The CDC still has to recommend the vaccines before they’re made available to distribute.
- The CDC advisory committee on Thursday will look at whether to recommend giving pregnant people an RSV vaccine to protect infants, another shot the FDA endorsed in May.
