Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA

Panelists discuss the evolving management of RSV, highlighting the importance of increasing awareness and education, anticipating advances in testing, data reporting, and treatment options like monoclonal antibodies and antivirals, and considering future vaccination strategies such as booster doses to enhance prevention and patient outcomes.

Panelists discuss strategies to address patient hesitancy around receiving multiple vaccines—flu, COVID-19, and RSV—simultaneously during the fall, emphasizing CDC recommendations for co-administration, educating patients about manageable adverse effects, tailoring conversations to individual concerns, and encouraging year-round RSV vaccination to maximize protection and reduce missed opportunities.

Panelists discuss how community pharmacies have become trusted hubs for adult vaccinations, with pharmacists not only administering vaccines but also educating patients and coordinating with other health care providers to ensure clear, unified messaging; they emphasize the importance of collaboration, empowering pharmacists to use clinical judgment, and actively navigating insurance challenges to improve vaccine access and public health outcomes.

Panelists discuss that building trust with vaccine-hesitant patients requires pharmacists to slow down, listen empathetically, and ask open-ended questions to understand individual concerns; by addressing specific fears with clear, tailored information and practicing cultural sensitivity, pharmacists can foster ongoing, respectful dialogue that gradually encourages vaccine acceptance.

Panelists discuss hesitancy surrounding the new RSV vaccine, highlighting factors such as uncertainty about safety and effectiveness, cost concerns, limited health literacy, language barriers, and lingering skepticism fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing how pharmacists can address these issues through tailored education, insurance guidance, and culturally sensitive communication to build patient trust and improve vaccine uptake.

Panelists discuss recent safety updates on RSV vaccines, including a rare potential risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in older adults receiving recombinant vaccines, emphasizing that benefits outweigh risks and highlighting the pharmacist’s role in educating patients about common adverse effects, recognizing early signs of rare adverse events, and navigating regulatory guidance to support safe, informed vaccination decisions.

Panelists discuss that effective shared clinical decision-making for RSV vaccination begins with clear, simple education about RSV’s risks and vaccine benefits, encourages patient questions, and involves transparent communication about how vaccines work and their safety; they emphasize that pharmacists already practice this approach routinely and should confidently use it to support informed patient choices and improve vaccine uptake.

Panelists discuss that pharmacies should prioritize practical workflow and patient management over clinical preference when administering RSV vaccines, since all FDA-approved vaccines are equally recommended; focusing on factors like preparation ease, storage, patient eligibility, and insurance helps streamline operations and promote timely vaccination without delays due to product choice or patient preference.

Panelists discuss the 3 FDA-approved RSV vaccines for high-risk adults—2 recombinant protein-based (1 adjuvanted, 1 bivalent) and one mRNA-based—highlighting differences in formulation, mechanism, and preparation, and emphasizing the importance of education to address misconceptions and guide appropriate vaccine selection.

Panelists discuss how pharmacies can boost RSV vaccination rates in high-risk adults by leveraging patient visits—especially during other immunizations—using integrated immunization registries and medication profiles to identify eligible patients, involving pharmacy technicians in vaccine conversations, and employing presumptive recommendation strategies to increase acceptance and awareness.

Panelists discuss how pharmacists can address patients’ growing vaccine fatigue and misconceptions—such as underestimating RSV’s severity in adults or believing it requires multiple doses—by providing clear, consistent education and emphasizing that a single RSV vaccine offers protection against serious illness in high-risk populations.

Panelists discuss how pharmacists can identify high-risk adults for severe RSV—such as those with chronic conditions or advanced age—by reviewing medication profiles, and how they can overcome barriers like limited awareness and workflow challenges to drive vaccine uptake through education, accessibility, and recent policy-supported coverage.

Panelists discuss clinical strategies to improve RSV vaccine uptake in high-risk adults by reviewing disease severity, comparing approved vaccines, and emphasizing the pharmacist’s pivotal role in patient education and vaccine advocacy to overcome hesitancy and increase protection in vulnerable populations.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses examples of successful community outreach initiatives aimed at overcoming barriers to adult RSV vaccination.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses how pharmacists can incorporate RSV vaccination education and recommendations into daily pharmacy workflows, including prescription pick-ups, consultations, and routine MTM sessions.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses her experience with concerns and perceptions contributing to RSV vaccine hesitancy among older adults, such as safety, efficacy, necessity, awareness, and cost, and she explores how pharmacists can effectively counsel patients and caregivers about RSV vaccines while tailoring communication strategies to educate older adults with low health literacy.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses the RSV vaccines currently available for older adults, highlighting the efficacy and safety profiles of the ConquerRSV, AReSVi-006, and RENOIR trials.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses the CDC’s recommendation for an RSV vaccine for all adults aged 75 years and older, as well as those aged 60 to 74 years at increased risk, and outlines the conditions that elevate the risk for severe illness, including the implications of severe illness, such as hospitalization, long-term effects, complications, comorbidities, and mortality, while also comparing how RSV infection affects older vs younger adults.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, discusses an overview of RSV, including its transmission, incidence, seasonality, and clinical presentation.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, shares strategies that pharmacists can use to effectively tackle vaccine hesitancy, particularly concerning newer vaccines such as the RSV vaccine, through building trust with patients to encourage informed decision-making.

A medical expert examines the ideal timing for administering RSV vaccines to adults over 60 or pregnant women, emphasizing the importance of proper timing for a single-dose vaccine and outlining the necessary steps to be taken if a pregnant woman inadvertently receives an adjuvanted RSV vaccine.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, explores the potential contraindications that may preclude individuals from receiving an RSV vaccine.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, highlights the main findings from the MATISSE trial, which evaluated the safety and efficacy of a non-adjuvanted RSV vaccine administered to pregnant women, presenting data that suggests the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing severe RSV in infants and discussing the observed adverse events in both mothers and infants.

An RSV medical expert provides an overview of the RENOIR trial, which investigated the efficacy and safety of an adjuvanted RSV vaccine in adults aged 60 years and older, focusing on the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract infections and presenting other crucial findings from the study.

Carrie Koenigsfeld, PharmD, FAPhA, reviews the pivotal findings from the AReSVi-006 trial that supported the approval of the adjuvanted RSV vaccine, including its efficacy in preventing lower respiratory tract RSV, associated adverse events, and important study limitations that may have influenced the results.