All adults aged 75 and over are now eligible for the NHS respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Until recently people aged over 80 were not eligible but this has changed.

RSV is a common virus that infects the lungs. While symptoms are mild for many people, the virus can be severe in older adults, causing pneumonia, bronchitis and flare-ups of existing lung disease and other long-term conditions. This can make it difficult to breathe and leave some older people requiring hospital treatment. RSV causes around 9,000 hospitalisations in those aged over 75 in the UK each year. You can book this vaccine as soon as you turn 75. This is not an annual vaccine and you only require a single vaccination.

 

If you have the NHS App on your phone (or if you use Patient Access on your computer/tablet, then you can order your repeat prescriptions online without phoning the Practice. Why not give it a go?