PBAC recommends free RSV vaccine for pregnant women
The RSV vaccine could soon become free for pregnant women following a recommendation by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. AMA Queensland has been advocating for free RSV vaccines to protect newborns and young children from serious respiratory illness.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has recommended adding the RSV vaccine to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) for pregnant women.
AMA Queensland has been calling for the vaccine to be made free under the NIP as RSV rates have soared over the past two years.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved RSVpreF (Abrysvo) earlier this year for use in pregnant women 24-36 weeks’ gestation.
Research found infants from vaccinated mothers had an 82 per cent lower risk of severe infection due to RSV in the first three months of life compared to placebo, and a 69 per cent reduction in the following three months.
PBAC had previously rejected a submission from vaccine maker Pfizer to add Abrysvo to the NIP due to the vaccine’s cost.
Pfizer has returned with a reduced cost and PBAC has changed its recommendation.
As of 16 June, Queensland had recorded 23,485 RSV notifications in 2024, a 53 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Of those notifications, more than 7,000 were children aged less than two years and 1,366 of them were admitted to hospital.
The Queensland Government introduced free RSV immunisations for newborn babies (under two months) and infants under eight months old in March 2024.
As of last week, no newborns who received the immunisation have been hospitalised for RSV.
In the four weeks to 20 June, only 12 newborns were hospitalised with RSV, compared to 48 during the same period last year. None of these newborns were immunised.
