In a world-first, the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a vaccine to combat the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, for adults who are 60 and older. The vaccine, to be sold under the brand name Arexvy, is a single-dose shot made by the pharmaceutical giant GSK. In a late-stage clinical trial, the jab was 94 percent effective in preventing severe illness in older adults with at least one underlying medical condition. RSV, typically associated with young children and infants, also poses a significant danger to older people, with an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 adults 65 and older dying as a result of infection in the U.S. every year. The GSK shot’s approval comes some 60 years after researchers began trying to develop a vaccine for the virus. “This really is a wonderful development,” Dr. Ruth Karron, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who was not involved in the development of the vaccine, told CNN. It could be ready for sale as soon as the fall, though exact production numbers were not immediately clear.
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