(Reuters) -The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine experts are expected to vote on expanding access to respiratory syncytial virus shots in the second round of their meeting on Wednesday.
Guidelines from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices help physicians decide what vaccines to recommend to patients and are also used for determining insurance coverage in the U.S.
The country’s health regulator has approved three vaccines for RSV — GSK’s Arexvy, Moderna’s mRESVIA and Pfizer’s Abrysvo.
RSV typically causes cold-like symptoms, but is also a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and older adults. An estimated 15,000–20,000 annual RSV-associated hospitalizations occur in the U.S. in adults aged 50–59 years, according to the CDC.
The panel was initially due to meet in February but the meeting was delayed just days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time vaccine skeptic, became the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The session was postponed to allow for public comment, the HHS had said.
The experts are due to vote later on Wednesday on whether to recommend a single dose of RSV vaccines to adults aged 50 to 59 years who are at an increased risk of the severe disease. The CDC currently recommends the vaccine for adults 75 years and older and at-risk adults aged 60 to 74 years.
The CDC had decided to hold off on recommending RSV shots for adults under age 60 last year.
GSK’s Arexvy and Pfizer’s Abrysvo are approved for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in adults aged 50 to 59 and 18 to 59, respectively, who are at an increased risk of the disease. Moderna’s application for at-risk adults aged 18 to 59 years is under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The panel will also vote on recommendations for use of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, and meningococcal vaccines.
On Tuesday, it discussed narrowing recommendations on the use of COVID-19 booster shots for the upcoming immunization campaign.
(Reporting by Sneha S K and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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