A global real-world study of the vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) finds it offers folks aged 60 and over 80% protection against severe illness and/or hospitalization.

A multi-state study, published in The Lancet, is one of the first real world data analyses of the effectiveness of the RSV—short for respiratory syncytial virus—vaccine. VISION Network researchers report that across the board these vaccines were highly effective in older adults,

A large new study says the RSV vaccine is 80% effective at preventing hospitalization in older adults due to complications from the illness, and works just as well at protecting them from death or needing intensive care unit support for severe complications.

The authors said the findings should encourage people to get vaccinated against RSV this year. "No vaccine is 100 percent effective. An 80 percent vaccine effectiveness rate is quite impressive and higher than we see,