The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for use in women during the middle of the third trimester of pregnancy to protect their babies.
The approval allows the vaccine to be given to women 32 to 36 weeks into a pregnancy to prevent lower respiratory tract infection and severe disease in infants until they are six months old, the company said quoting Reuters.
An FDA panel of outside experts backed the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for women in their second and third trimesters earlier in May.
A Pfizer spokesperson could not comment on the FDA’s reasoning for the more limited window for administering the vaccine, but said the company was confident the shot would have a positive impact on public health and RSV rates.
RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can also lead to serious illness and hospitalization.
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