German panel endorses GSK, Pfizer RSV vaccines for elderly, ET HealthWorld

Frankfurt: Germany’s influential vaccine advisory panel said on Thursday that everyone in the country who is 75-years old or more should receive one of two new vaccines against the common respiratory infection RSV.

The panel of independent experts known as STIKO said in a statement that one shot, either Pfizer’s Abrysvo or Arexvy by GSK, should be administered ideally in September or October before the cold season.

New pharmaceutical protection against RSV, a virus potentially dangerous for infants and the elderly, has provided a global sales boost for the companies that won regulatory approval.

STIKO said in June all infants in the country should receive AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s jointly owned antibody therapy to protect them against RSV.

STIKO advice is widely followed by family doctors in Germany, Europe’s largest pharmaceutical market.

It also said that people as young as 60 with certain chronic diseases should also get an RSV vaccine shot.

More health data will be needed to decide whether future booster shots should be given after one vaccination, STIKO added. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Madeline Chambers)