Patients aged 75 to 79 and all women who are at least 28 weeks pregnant can receive a single dose of the RSV vaccine starting September 1, NHS England (NHSE) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced last week (June 24).
The programme aims to protect older adults, neonates and small babies who are at higher risk from RSV and its complications, a letter to healthcare professionals and commissioners said.
It added that NHSE will commission “a number of” community pharmacies to deliver the “older adults” programme, as well as local GP practices - with further details to be “shared in due course”.
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It remains unclear how many pharmacies will be commissioned to deliver the service and how much they will be paid.
This comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) again recommended that “older adults and infants” must be protected against RSV, an NHS spokesperson said.
“The NHS will pull out all the stops to ensure that people have protection against this nasty virus ahead of winter, with GPs preparing to offer this new vaccine to vulnerable groups as quickly as possible,” they added.
Who is eligible?
All adults turning 75 years old on or after September 1 will be eligible for the routine programme and should be offered a single dose of the RSV vaccine on or after their 75th birthday, the letter said.
Meanwhile, patients already aged 75 to 79 on September 1 should be vaccinated via a “one-off catch-up campaign” at the “earliest opportunity with the aim of completing the majority” by August 31 2025, it added.
Individuals will remain eligible “until the day before their 80th birthday”, except those who turn 80 in the first year who have until August 31 2025 to get vaccinated, it said.
Read more: JCVI recommends RSV vaccination programme for babies and over-75s
And it added that providers should “vaccinate as many people as possible during September and October 2024 prior to the expected RSV season” to “offer the best protection”.
The letter also said that all women who are “at least” 28 weeks pregnant on or after September 1 will be offered a single dose of the jab and will be eligible until birth.
It added that the “ideal opportunity” to offer the RSV vaccine is at the 28-week antenatal contact (ANC) and that maternity service providers should aim to vaccinate pregnant women eligible on September 1 as “soon as possible”.
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RSV is a “common respiratory virus that can cause serious lung infections” and has a “considerable impact” on individuals and NHS services during the winter months, the letter said.
In October, C+D revealed that the UK’s first private RSV vaccination service package had launched in community pharmacies.
