Winter brings snow and holiday fun but also respiratory illnesses. Fortunately, studies show that vaccines help people avoid illness, hospitalization, or even death. For instance, new data from a trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a single dose of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine AREXVY shows that it protects against infection in adults aged 60 and older—over three full RSV seasons. The vaccine even protects those at increased risk due to issues such as lung or immunosuppressive illnesses. 

According to data from the study, which involved about 25,000 volunteers in 17 countries:

• The vaccine is 94.1% effective in preventing severe RSV during the first season after the shot and 65.3% a year later.
• Three years later, the vaccine was 43.3% effective in preventing severe illness.
• Efficacy includes different subtypes of RSV in adults between ages 70 and 79 and those with underlying conditions.

Another study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and involving 28,271 people, showed similar results:

• RSV vaccines were shown to be about 80% effective in older adults, protecting against severe disease and hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and death.
• Among nearly 9,000 immunocompromised individuals, the vaccine was 73% effective in preventing hospitalization.
• These results were for 2023-2024, the first season after the RSV vaccine was approved in the United States.

The study’s co-authors noted, “No vaccine is 100 percent effective. An 80 percent vaccine effectiveness rate is quite impressive and higher than we see, for example, with the influenza vaccine.” Noted a physician associated with the study, “As a data scientist and a family practice physician, I encourage older adults to follow CDC guidance and get vaccinated for RSV as we enter this year’s and every year’s respiratory disease season.”