Community pharmacies have administered more than 8,000 RSV vaccines in east of England

Community pharmacies in Essex and Suffolk have administered more than 8,000 vaccines in the first two months of the community pharmacy respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pathfinder service.

The NHS RSV vaccination programme began on 1 September 2024, offering vaccines to people aged 75–79 years and women who are at least 28 weeks pregnant, with pharmacies offering the vaccines as part of the pathfinder service in the east of England since October 2024.

NHS England told The Pharmaceutical Journal that 37 pharmacies are currently delivering the vaccine in Essex and Suffolk, with 8,187 vaccines administered between October and November 2024.

Sarah Cavanagh, regional public health pharmacist, NHS England — East of England, said: “I think we’ve seen really good uptake, because people want to be able to book [an appointment]… they want to go when it’s convenient for them.”

She explained that patients have received letters and text messages asking them to book their vaccine, and that pharmacies are also advertising the service with posters, meaning patients are seeing them when visiting the pharmacy.

“GPs are offering it as well… but a lot of these patients are [aged] 75–80 years old. They’re not unwell, so they’re not going to their GP all the time, but they might have a long-term condition, and they might go to their pharmacy, or else, they’re just going to their pharmacy anyway for toothpaste,” added Cavanagh.

Cavanagh said that there were “early signals” that the RSV season may not be as bad as previous years, “which may be down to the vaccine”.

She added that plans to roll out the pharmacy pathfinder service to other areas were being discussed.

NHS England announced in August 2024 that it was looking to commission up to 50 pharmacies in NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) and NHS North East Essex ICB to provide the RSV vaccine as part of the wider vaccination programme.

Data published by NHS England show that, as of 28 November 2024, 1.1 million people in England have received the vaccine across the NHS since the programme began.

Commenting on the programme, Steve Russell, national director for vaccinations and screening at NHS England, said: “It’s a testament to the hard work of NHS staff that there’s been over a million RSV jabs delivered to those who need them, as vaccination and maternity teams across the country have worked to make it as easy as possible for those eligible to get the life-saving jab. 

“But we know there are still many more people eligible to come forward, and with RSV cases likely to peak during winter — alongside COVID-19 and flu viruses — it’s vitally important that anyone eligible for these vaccinations takes up their offer as soon as possible when contacted by the NHS, to help avoid a ‘tripledemic’.”  

Analysis by the UK Health Security Agency, Imperial College London and Oxford Population Health, published on 5 November 2024, suggested that RSV infection leads to 640,000 antibiotic prescriptions per year, and found that interventions to reduce RSV infections, including the vaccination programme, could help to reduce antibiotic prescribing and, therefore, antibiotic resistance.