Do You Need to Get the RSV Vaccine?

Age recommendations for shots have been updated for the 2024-2025 cold and flu season

Rachel Nania,

Updated September 09, 2024

AARP

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En español

Published September 03, 2024

/ Updated September 09, 2024

Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Getty Images(2))

Last year was the first time older adults had the opportunity to get a vaccine that can help prevent complications from RSV, a common virus that circulates during cold and flu season. RSV, short for respiratory syncytial virus, typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but the illness can turn severe in older people and infants.

Two vaccines for older adults were approved in 2023, and a third was cleared this year. But not many people rushed out to get the shot once it became available. An estimated 24.4 percent of adults ages 60-plus rolled up their sleeves for the RSV vaccine during the 2023-2024 season, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vaccine fatigue stemming from multiple rounds of COVID-19 shots may have contributed to the low uptake, says Kathleen Linder, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of infectious diseases at Michigan Medicine. “I also think that people don’t really appreciate how severe RSV illness can be,” Linder adds. “You hear about something like RSV and you think, ‘Oh, it’s a cold virus. If I have a cold, I’ll go on about my life.’ But the reality is, particularly in older people and in people who are immunocompromised, an RSV illness can be very severe.”

As many as 160,000 adults ages 65 and older are hospitalized with RSV each year in the U.S., according to the CDC, and up to 10,000 older adults die from an infection.

“That is not insignificant,” says Jodie Guest, a professor and senior vice chair in the department of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

Here’s what you should know about the RSV vaccine for the 2024-2025 season.

Who should get the RSV vaccine?

The CDC recently streamlined its RSV vaccine guidelines and adjusted the age range for older adults who should get the shot.

For this season, the CDC says everyone 75 and older should get the vaccine; so should people ages 60 to 74 who live in nursing homes or have certain chronic health issues, like lung or heart disease, that put them at higher risk for severe illness. People ages 50 to 59 were not included in the recommendations. In 2023, the official advice was to talk to your doctor about getting an RSV vaccine if you were 60 or older.

The change was made in part to simplify the recommendations and provide clarity on who benefits most from the vaccine, explains Amadea Britton, M.D., an RSV expert and medical officer at the CDC.

“We now have a year of data from the first-ever RSV vaccines — we had millions of people get them — and we saw that they were really effective at preventing older adults from ending up in the hospital,” Britton says. “And that’s, I think, a really strong reason to go out and get vaccinated.”

A study published Sept. 4, 2024 in JAMA found that the vaccine was 75 percent effective in preventing hospitalization in its first season.

What if you got the vaccine last year?

Unlike the COVID-19 and flu vaccines, which have updated formulations this fall, protection from the RSV vaccine is longer lasting. So if you got the shot last year, you can sit this year out, Britton says. According to the CDC, we know so far that the vaccine’s durability lasts for at least two winter seasons, but more data is needed to determine how long that protection will continue.

Researchers and public health officials are monitoring for signs of waning immunity in clinical trial participants, who are a few years out from their vaccines. “There’s definitely a possibility that this may be a vaccine that we recommend you get more than once in your lifetime,” Britton says. “But not yet.”

Which vaccine should you get?

Older adults have three options for the RSV vaccine — one from Moderna, mResvia (an mRNA vaccine), one from GSK, Arexvy, and another from Pfizer, Abrysvo. If you’re wondering which you should get, Britton’s advice is to get what’s available at your pharmacy or clinic. “We don’t have any preferential recommendation. Whatever is available is great, it will protect you from RSV,” she says. And in clinical trials, “all of them were shown to be safe and effective,” Britton adds.

What are the side effects?

The RSV vaccine is “a pretty well tolerated vaccine, overall,” Linder says. Some people may experience temporary side effects, like injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, joint stiffness/pain and nausea. These symptoms are generally a sign that the body is mounting an immune response, doctors say.

Serious side effects from the vaccine are uncommon, but federal researchers found that a small share of people who were vaccinated with Arexvy and Abrysvo went on to develop a rare neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). GBS can cause numbness, weakness or even paralysis. Researchers, however, have noted that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk.

Can you get the RSV vaccine with your flu and COVID-19 shots?

If you’re planning on getting the RSV vaccine this year, and also the annual flu and updated COVID-19 vaccines, know that you don’t need to make separate trips to the clinic or pharmacy. It’s safe to get them all at once, the CDC says.

There is a possibility you could experience higher rates of common side effects if you get all three at once, Britton says. “But we’ve seen that a lot of people still prefer to do it, just for convenience.”

Want to get the vaccines at different visits? When it comes to scheduling those shots, you don’t need to wait a specific amount of time between the appointments, the CDC says.

How much does it cost?

The RSV vaccine is available to Medicare beneficiaries at no cost under Medicare’s prescription drug plan, known as Part D. And private health plans are required to cover vaccines recommended by the CDC in the year after they are approved, but some may cover them in the current plan year. It’s always a good idea to check with your insurance provider to make sure the vaccine is included in the current plan year and use an in-network provider to avoid out-of-network charges.

Out of pocket, the RSV vaccine can cost roughly $300.

Are there other ways to protect yourself from RSV?

If you’re not eligible for the RSV vaccine but still want to avoid getting sick from the virus, there are some things you can do to lower the likelihood of catching it. Any kind of measures that you would take to protect yourself from flu and COVID-19 also work against RSV, Linder says.

“So avoiding people who are sick, wearing a mask if you’re going to be in an area with a lot of people, washing your hands frequently — these are always a plus,” she says.

Taking steps to prevent an RSV infection can also lower the likelihood that you’ll experience other health issues too, Linder says. “After an RSV infection, people are at significantly higher risk for heart disease, for example. So just having a respiratory viral infection doesn’t only mean things are going to be affecting your respiratory system,” she explains.

Editor's note: This story, originally published September 3, 2024, has been updated to reflect new information.

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