What’s The RSV Vaccine? Here’s What You Need To Know About The UK Rollout
The government has recently announced a Respiratory Syncytial Virus immunisation programme that’s already been rolled out in Scotland, and is now set to be released across other parts of the UK.
On the 24th of July, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shared through Gov.uk that “from 1 September 2024, two new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programmes will be introduced [in England].”
“Wales and Northern Ireland will also start their schemes in September, while Scotland [began] its rollout from 12 August,” an earlier entry on the vaccination reads.
One is for adults aged 75-79, while the other is for pregnant women over 28 weeks of gestation.
The programme makes the UK “the first country in the world to offer a national vaccination programme that uses the same vaccine to protect both infants and older adults from RSV.”
Wait, what’s a “respiratory syncytial virus”?
It’s a question a BBC Breakfast host Sally Nugent also had for UKHSA’s Dame Jenny Harries on the show.
In an X shared by BBC Breakfast’s page, Sally said, “I’m sure lots of people will be at home this morning watching is thinking, ‘What’s that? What ― RSV? Not heard of it before.’”
“And yet... 90% of us will have had it very, very early on in our lives,” the host added, asking, “What is it about this virus that’s so dangerous?”
Dame Jenny Harries responded: “We will have it often through life, but it particularly impacts the extremes of age, so very young children and the elderly.”
The Gov.uk page says the respiratory syncytial virus comes from the same family as measles, mumps, and flu, and “is one of the common viruses that cause coughs and colds in winter.”
Young children may get “a little bit of a cold,” the UKHSA spokesperson explained on the BBC, but very young children (especially those under six months) can develop “severe bronchiolitis and the need to support the breathing system in hospital.”
A new vaccination programme aimed at protecting newborn babies and older adults against a dangerous respiratory disease is being rolled out across the UK.
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 13, 2024
The Respiratory Syncytial Virus immunisation programme began in Scotland.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries from the UK Health… pic.twitter.com/hOoHSwvG90
When will I get vaccinated?
“People aged 75 to 79 years old on 1 September 2024 will be invited to receive their RSV vaccination with their GP, and those turning 75 after this date will also receive an invitation from their GP once eligible,” the Government’s site says.
Pregnant people over 28 weeks should also be offered a single dose; those who haven’t “should speak to their maternity service or GP surgery to get the vaccine to protect their baby.”