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P.E.I. will expand RSV protections for infants and more seniors this fall
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With the approach of fall likely bringing the usual uptick in respiratory illness, the provincial government is boosting its range of protections against RSV, with free vaccines available for more seniors and infants eligible to receive an antibody product.
Previously, free vaccines were available to people 60 years and older who were living in long-term or community-care homes on Prince Edward Island, said Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison.
"Seniors 75 years of age or older will be able to have a vaccine to protect against RSV starting in September," she said.
"There's a product for children less than one year of age. It will be available in October, and it will also provide protection as they go into their first season of RSV."
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, infects the nose, throat and lungs. The common virus can lead to hospitalization for people without strong immune systems, such as infants and older adults with chronic health conditions.
Morrison said Islanders not in those two groups might become eligible for protections down the road.
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"We have talked about trying to make sure that it's available for seniors with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], for instance, because those are certainly very vulnerable seniors who would be under 75," she said.
"So we're trying to work with the system to identify as some of those individuals."
The province's website says children between 12 and 24 months of age who have certain medical conditions will also remain eligible for free RSV protection measures.
Only one dose of the Abrysvo vaccine is needed to protect adults against RSV, Morrison said.
Infants will receive the product Beyfortus, described as a long-acting monoclonal antibody with protection that lasts a full RSV season, typically from November to April.
Morrison said this treatment will protect those children from getting bronchiolitis and pneumonia related to RSV.
Hundreds of cases on P.E.I.
Morrison said that RSV has been around for a long time, but products to fight its worst effects are relatively new.
"In the last two winters, we've had over 150 hospitalizations related to RSV," she said. "This past winter, 58 per cent of those were related to little children."
In those same two seasons, Morrison said there were more than 850 lab-confirmed cases on the Island, including some outbreaks of the illness, and three people died.
We want to protect more babies and seniors and keep them out of the hospital. — Dr. Heather Morrison
"It is circulating... so this vaccine hopefully will make a difference and help our health-care system as well as the population here in P.E.I."
She said other provinces across Canada are also making the vaccine and antibody product more available.
"This is certainly in line with the evidence and vaccine recommendations across the country, and with our National Advisory Committee on Immunization," she said.
