How to protect yourself by having the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine
What is RSV?
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs. RSV infection often causes symptoms similar to a cold, including cough, sore throat, sneezing and runny or blocked nose. It can also make you become wheezy or short of breath and lead to pneumonia and other life-threatening
conditions. There is no specific treatment, and most infections will get better by themselves.
Who should have the RSV vaccination?
Everyone turning 75 years old on or after the 1 September 2024 will be offered a single dose of RSV
vaccine. This is because older adults are more at risk of serious complications from RSV. You can still get the vaccine up to the day before you turn 80.
For the first year of the programme, the vaccine will also be offered to those who are already aged 75 to 2024 as part of a catch up programme.