CDC Expands RSV Vaccine Access to At-Risk Adults 50-59

The Trump administration, through Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has expanded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommendation for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination to include high-risk adults aged 50 to 59, lowering the previous age threshold of 60. This decision follows recommendations made in April by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a panel which Kennedy later dismissed and replaced with appointees including vaccine skeptics. Despite the panel's dismissal, Kennedy adopted the former panel's RSV vaccination guidance on June 25, making it an official CDC recommendation, even though the agency currently lacks a director. The CDC plans to issue clinical considerations to define the at-risk conditions qualifying adults for the vaccine, which remains a single-dose shot. This action marks a continuation of Kennedy's unconventional approach to vaccine policy, which previously included altering COVID-19 vaccine guidelines without committee input. The endorsement also aligns with ACIP's recommendation to allow the use of GSK's pentavalent meningococcal vaccine in certain young adults, reflecting broader vaccine policy decisions amidst ongoing leadership changes at the CDC.