Boots yesterday (November 20) announced that it had become the “first multiple pharmacy” to launch a private RSV vaccination service.
The new service has rolled out in 75 stores across the UK for those “who are not eligible for a free NHS vaccination” but want to protect themselves from the virus, it said.
Patients aged 60 and over and women aged 18 and above who are between 28 and 36 weeks pregnant can receive a single dose of the vaccine for £245, it added.
Read more: Private pharmacy RSV and dengue fever vaccine services launch in UK ‘first’
Boots superintendent pharmacist Claire Nevinson said that “getting vaccinated is one of the best ways to protect yourself and help reduce the spread of the virus to others this winter”.
“In line with government guidelines, the RSV vaccination is expected to provide good protection for at least two years and is expected to last longer,” she added.
The jab is “the latest addition to Boots’ expanding range of private vaccination services”, the multiple said, and patients can now book appointments online.
Read more: RSV vaccine programme to roll out in pharmacies this autumn
The NHS currently offers free RSV vaccinations for patients aged 75 to 79 and women who are over 28 weeks pregnant.
RSV is a respiratory virus that is “most common over the winter period” with symptoms including a high temperature, a blocked nose, coughing and sneezing but “in serious cases can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia”, the multiple said.
“Very nasty illness”
It comes as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today (November 21) warned that RSV activity has “increased” and the virus is circulating “above baseline levels”.
Consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA Dr Alexander Allen stressed that “RSV is now circulating at higher levels across most age groups, with emergency departments seeing an increase in acute bronchiolitis among children”.
“Flu has also increased this week and we expect to see all respiratory illnesses increasing further over the winter”, he added.
Read more: JCVI recommends RSV vaccination programme for babies and over-75s
And NHS England (NHSE) last month (October 3) said that this year there is a “risk of a ‘tripledemic’ of winter viruses – COVID, flu and RSV”, urging people to boost their protection “against a very nasty illness”.
According to NHSE, there is “evidence showing [that the RSV jab] could prevent thousands of A&E attendances, hospital admissions and serious cases this winter”.
Read more: UK’s first private pharmacy COVID-19 vaccine service launched today
Meanwhile, Pharmadoctor launched the UK’s first private RSV vaccination service package in October last year, making it available to over 12,000 pharmacists partnered with the clinical service provider.
And this year’s rollout of the NHS RSV vaccination programme began in September to protect older adults, neonates and small babies who are at a higher risk – with “a number of” community pharmacies commissioned to deliver the jabs.