Pfizer revealed earlier this month (November 7) that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved “an extension to the licence” of its RSV vaccine to allow adults aged 18 and over at high risk of severe RSV to access the jab.
Those aged 18-59 who are “at increased risk for lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV” – such as people with asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes – are now included in Pfizer’s licence for the vaccine, it said.
The vaccine was previously only approved for those aged 60 and over, it added.
Read more: RSV jab pilot to expand by ‘up to’ 200 pharmacies
UKHSA last week (November 11) confirmed that this is currently just an extension to the licence, meaning eligibility for the RSV vaccine on the NHS has not changed.
But it told C+D that its joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) regularly reviews the NHS vaccination programmes and will consider this matter in a future meeting.
Currently, the RSV vaccine is available on the NHS for pregnant women and adults aged 75 or over.
“Official recommendations”
According to Pfizer, the expanded approval makes its vaccine “the only one licensed in the UK for adults over 18 years who are at increased risk of lung disease caused by RSV”.
It stressed, however, that the jab’s use in the UK “will remain in accordance with official recommendations, including the national immunisation programme”.
Read more: NHSE seeks pharmacies for RSV and whooping cough jab service
It comes after the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) revealed plans in April to expand the community pharmacy RSV vaccine programme by “up to 200 sites in identified target areas” in 2025/26 to “reverse the downward trend” in uptake.
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison welcomed the expansion at the time but called on NHS England (NHSE) to “continue to expand the number of pharmacies included in the programme at pace”.
Meanwhile, NHSE announced in March that it was looking for “up to 66” pharmacy sites in the Midlands to offer an RSV and pertussis – also known as whooping cough – vaccination service.
