The evolving landscape of RSV immunization: Current policies and practices across Europe

Zazie Franck; Sanne Hofstraat; Lotte Jonker; PIPELINE National Coordinators; Dace Zavadska

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222

The evolving landscape of RSV immunization: Current policies and practices across Europe

Zazie Franck (Corresponding Author)
, Sanne Hofstraat
, Lotte Jonker
, PIPELINE National Coordinators
, Dace Zavadska (Member of the Working Group)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

BackgroundFollowing approval of the first Maternal RSV vaccine (MV) and long-acting monoclonal RSV antibody (la-mAbs) in Europe, several countries have begun integrating the products into their infant RSV immunization programs.MethodsBased on a survey supplemented by policy documents, this paper provides a descriptive, policy-focused cross-sectional overview of RSV immunization strategies across 32 European countries.ResultsAs of September 2025, 22 countries offered programmatic RSV prophylaxis for infants. Of these, 5 use only MV, 10 use only la-mAbs and 7 countries offer both. Considerable variation was observed in programmatic approaches with respect to (gestational) age of administration, delivery pathways, eligibility criteria for mothers and infants, and reimbursement mechanisms.ConclusionsThe RSV immunization policy landscape in Europe is diverse and dynamic, presenting both challenges and opportunities for shared learning and policy development.

Original language	English
Article number	128222
Journal	Vaccine
Volume	76
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222
Publication status	Published - 19 Mar 2026
Externally published	Yes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords*

Europe
Immunization program
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

Field of Science*

3.2 Clinical medicine
3.3 Health sciences

Publication Type*

1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

Access to Document

10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222Licence: CC BY

The evolving landscape of RSV immunizationFinal published version, 1.41 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{5de4e466c2a94fa3b09a51a94070f9fb,

title = "The evolving landscape of RSV immunization: Current policies and practices across Europe",

abstract = "BackgroundFollowing approval of the first Maternal RSV vaccine (MV) and long-acting monoclonal RSV antibody (la-mAbs) in Europe, several countries have begun integrating the products into their infant RSV immunization programs.MethodsBased on a survey supplemented by policy documents, this paper provides a descriptive, policy-focused cross-sectional overview of RSV immunization strategies across 32 European countries.ResultsAs of September 2025, 22 countries offered programmatic RSV prophylaxis for infants. Of these, 5 use only MV, 10 use only la-mAbs and 7 countries offer both. Considerable variation was observed in programmatic approaches with respect to (gestational) age of administration, delivery pathways, eligibility criteria for mothers and infants, and reimbursement mechanisms.ConclusionsThe RSV immunization policy landscape in Europe is diverse and dynamic, presenting both challenges and opportunities for shared learning and policy development.",

keywords = "Europe, Immunization program, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)",

author = "Zazie Franck and Sanne Hofstraat and Lotte Jonker and Leyla Kragten and Chiara Messina and Fernandes, \{Ricardo M.\} and Patricia Bruijning-Verhagen and \{PIPELINE National Coordinators\} and Alex Farr and Levi Hoste and Pana, \{Zoi Dorothea\} and Dita Sm{\'i}{\v s}kov{\'a} and S{\o}ren Hagstr{\o}m and Piia J{\~o}gi and Nohynek, \{Hanna M.\} and Pierre Frange and Tristan Delory and Natia Pkhaladze and Mario R{\"u}diger and Emmanuel Roilides and Gayerhosz Katalin and Thors, \{Valt{\'y}r Stef{\'a}nsson\} and Eugene Dempsey and Sandra Trapani and Dace Zavadska and Diana Rama{\v s}auskaitė and \{de la Fuente Garcia\}, Isabel and Charles Savona-Ventura and Nikolina Zdraveska and Skjerven, \{H{\aa}vard Ove\} and Marek Migdal and Miron, \{Victor Daniel\} and Maja Stosic and Proh, \{Miha Lucovnik\} and Federico Martin{\'o}n-Torres and Verena Sengpiel and Anna Naef and Alla Volokha and Paul Heath",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",

year = "2026",

month = mar,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222",

language = "English",

volume = "76",

journal = "Vaccine ",

issn = "0264-410X",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The evolving landscape of RSV immunization

T2 - Current policies and practices across Europe

AU - Franck, Zazie

AU - Hofstraat, Sanne

AU - Jonker, Lotte

AU - Kragten, Leyla

AU - Messina, Chiara

AU - Fernandes, Ricardo M.

AU - Bruijning-Verhagen, Patricia

AU - PIPELINE National Coordinators

A2 - Farr, Alex

A2 - Hoste, Levi

A2 - Pana, Zoi Dorothea

A2 - Smíšková, Dita

A2 - Hagstrøm, Søren

A2 - Jõgi, Piia

A2 - Nohynek, Hanna M.

A2 - Frange, Pierre

A2 - Delory, Tristan

A2 - Pkhaladze, Natia

A2 - Rüdiger, Mario

A2 - Roilides, Emmanuel

A2 - Katalin, Gayerhosz

A2 - Thors, Valtýr Stefánsson

A2 - Dempsey, Eugene

A2 - Trapani, Sandra

A2 - Zavadska, Dace

A2 - Ramašauskaitė, Diana

A2 - de la Fuente Garcia, Isabel

A2 - Savona-Ventura, Charles

A2 - Zdraveska, Nikolina

A2 - Skjerven, Håvard Ove

A2 - Migdal, Marek

A2 - Miron, Victor Daniel

A2 - Stosic, Maja

A2 - Proh, Miha Lucovnik

A2 - Martinón-Torres, Federico

A2 - Sengpiel, Verena

A2 - Naef, Anna

A2 - Volokha, Alla

A2 - Heath, Paul

PY - 2026/3/19

Y1 - 2026/3/19

N2 - BackgroundFollowing approval of the first Maternal RSV vaccine (MV) and long-acting monoclonal RSV antibody (la-mAbs) in Europe, several countries have begun integrating the products into their infant RSV immunization programs.MethodsBased on a survey supplemented by policy documents, this paper provides a descriptive, policy-focused cross-sectional overview of RSV immunization strategies across 32 European countries.ResultsAs of September 2025, 22 countries offered programmatic RSV prophylaxis for infants. Of these, 5 use only MV, 10 use only la-mAbs and 7 countries offer both. Considerable variation was observed in programmatic approaches with respect to (gestational) age of administration, delivery pathways, eligibility criteria for mothers and infants, and reimbursement mechanisms.ConclusionsThe RSV immunization policy landscape in Europe is diverse and dynamic, presenting both challenges and opportunities for shared learning and policy development.

AB - BackgroundFollowing approval of the first Maternal RSV vaccine (MV) and long-acting monoclonal RSV antibody (la-mAbs) in Europe, several countries have begun integrating the products into their infant RSV immunization programs.MethodsBased on a survey supplemented by policy documents, this paper provides a descriptive, policy-focused cross-sectional overview of RSV immunization strategies across 32 European countries.ResultsAs of September 2025, 22 countries offered programmatic RSV prophylaxis for infants. Of these, 5 use only MV, 10 use only la-mAbs and 7 countries offer both. Considerable variation was observed in programmatic approaches with respect to (gestational) age of administration, delivery pathways, eligibility criteria for mothers and infants, and reimbursement mechanisms.ConclusionsThe RSV immunization policy landscape in Europe is diverse and dynamic, presenting both challenges and opportunities for shared learning and policy development.

KW - Europe

KW - Immunization program

KW - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033856199

U2 - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222

DO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128222

M3 - Article

C2 - 41690867

AN - SCOPUS:105033856199

SN - 0264-410X

VL - 76

JO - Vaccine

JF - Vaccine

M1 - 128222

ER -

The evolving landscape of RSV immunization: Current policies and practices across Europe

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords*

Field of Science*

Publication Type*

Access to Document

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