Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

Dartmouth Health locations are offering RSV vaccines to our adult patients and infants. This includes:

• Pregnant women (32 to 36 weeks gestational age)
• Neonates and infants born during or entering their first RSV season
• Children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second RSV season

Find information on RSV vaccination for adults over 60 years of age on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is a virus that can cause severe respiratory illness but often just causes symptoms of a cold. Each year in the United States, RSV sends around 60,000 to 160,000 adults to the hospital and causes 6,000 to 10,000 deaths in people over 65 years of age. Infants, pregnant women, and older adults are at higher risk for serious disease. This year, vaccines are available for adults, including pregnant women, and preventive therapies are available for infants.

The RSV vaccine is not currently an annual vaccine. If you received the vaccine last year, you don’t need to get it again this year. You can get an RSV vaccine at any time, but the best time to get vaccinated is late summer/early fall before RSV begins to spread. It is ok to get the RSV vaccine at the same time as the COVID and flu vaccines, but it might raise the chances of having side effects.

Many pharmacies offer the RSV vaccine and can tell you how much it will cost before you get vaccinated. For adults who have Medicare insurance, the cost of the vaccine is covered under Medicare Part D, the prescription benefit. This means you need to receive the vaccine at a pharmacy in order to have Medicare cover the cost of the vaccine. If you have private insurance you may want to check with your insurer before your vaccination to clarify if your plan covers the cost of this vaccination.