Pfizer Seeks FDA Approval for RSV Vaccine for Young Adults, Is Also Conducting RSV Trial for Kids as Young as 2

Pfizer said Tuesday it plans to use data from a clinical trial it concluded last…

Children's Health Defense

Pfizer plans to use data from a clinical trial it concluded last month to ask regulators to expand approval of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, Abrysvo, for all adults ages 18 and up, the drugmaker said in a press release Tuesday.

Pfizer also reported that it has begun a trial evaluating the drug in children ages 2-18 who are at higher risk for RSV disease.

Family medicine physician Dr. Kat Lindley told The Defender she is concerned about the rush to promote vaccines to treat RSV when the vaccines have serious risks and there are other methods of prevention and treatment.

“In my almost 20 years of practice, I have found RSV to be an illness most common in babies 12 months and younger, very responsive to supportive treatment. In recent years we are seeing it in elderly and immunocompromised patients,” she said. “Again the key thing for all these age groups is early supportive therapy and monitoring as needed.”

Typically, she said, the 18-59 age group is not at risk for RSV.

Among a series of approvals for drugs and vaccines to treat RSV last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer’s Abrysvo for people age 60 or older in late May 2023.

In August 2023, the agency expanded Abrysvo’s approval to protect babies through the first six months of life by vaccinating pregnant mothers between 32-36 weeks of pregnancy, despite safety concerns…