CDC Now Recommends RSV Vaccine for Some Adults 50+

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Adults as young as 50 may now qualify for an RSV vaccine if they have certain health conditions, according to a quiet update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This marks a change from the CDC’s previous recommendation, which only offered the shot to people 60 and older who were at high risk, The Associated Press reported.

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is usually mild but can cause severe illness in infants, older adults and people with certain health problems. It affects the nose, throat and lungs.

Earlier this year, a group of vaccine experts on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to expand RSV vaccination to high-risk adults starting at age 50. 

However, that recommendation was not executed after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel in June.

He replaced them with seven new members, some of whom have questioned vaccine effectiveness. 

The reconstituted panel has not discussed RSV vaccination again and has already caused concern among doctors by questioning proven science around flu vaccines and childhood immunizations, The AP said.

Despite this, a page on the CDC’s website updated last week says Kennedy approved the original panel’s RSV recommendation on June 25. 

The site now states that vaccinating high-risk adults 50 and older is an “official recommendation of the CDC,” The AP added.

The change has not yet appeared on the agency’s main adult immunization schedule.

The CDC already recommends the RSV shot for all adults 75 and older and for people 60 and older who have health conditions that increase their risk of severe RSV. 

It also recommends the shot during pregnancy to protect newborns.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on respiratory syncytial virus.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, July 2, 2025

Source: HealthDay

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