Realizing Vietnam–UK healthcare cooperation: Next-generation RSV vaccine provides timely prevention of severe pneumonia complications in adults and patients with underlying conditions
On December 14, 2025, the VNVC Vaccination System officially launched and began nationwide deployment of a new-generation vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), researched and manufactured by GSK (United Kingdom). The vaccine provides a highly effective solution for proactive and timely prevention among older adults and individuals with underlying conditions, groups at high risk of severe respiratory diseases.
Just two months after VNVC and UK-based pharmaceutical group GSK signed an agreement to elevate their strategic cooperation in London, witnessed by General Secretary Tô Lâm and UK Government Trade Envoy Matt Western, VNVC successfully brought the new-generation GSK RSV vaccine to Vietnam for widespread immunization, thereby realizing the strategic healthcare cooperation between the two nations.
GSK's RSV vaccine is specifically developed for people aged 60 and above and those with chronic diseases. It applies advanced technology incorporating a specialized adjuvant to maximize protective efficacy and safety, tailored to age-related immune senescence in older adults. As a result, the vaccine achieves protective efficacy of up to nearly 95% in older adults with underlying conditions, creating a strong protective shield against the highly dangerous RSV.
RSV is one of the most common causes of pneumonia, bronchiolitis, respiratory failure, and hospitalization across all ages, particularly among children and older adults. In the latter, RSV is especially dangerous as it can rapidly attack the respiratory system while triggering disease exacerbations and complications, making it difficult to control chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease, cancer, or immunosuppression. Beyond respiratory complications, RSV infection also increases the risk of severe cardiovascular events such as heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction, leading to a higher risk of mortality.
At the scientific conference “Announcement on RSV Vaccines for Older Adults and Those with Underlying Conditions – Breakthrough Advances in Vaccine Technology and Recommendations for Vietnam,” Dr. Phan Thi Xuan, MD, PhD, Head of Intensive Care – Toxicology and Emergency Department at Tam Anh General Hospital Ho Chi Minh City, shared a clinical case. A 58-year-old male patient was admitted with cough and right-sided chest pain, with a medical history of diabetes, hypertension, and bilateral kidney stones. Laboratory tests confirmed RSV infection with co-infection of COVID-19 and influenza A. During inpatient treatment, the patient’s condition deteriorated severely, with the onset of cerebral hemorrhage. Despite intensive treatment and advanced medical equipment, the patient did not respond and died after several days.
For many years, despite recognition of the serious threat RSV poses to older adults and people with underlying conditions, prevention has remained a major challenge due to the virus’s rapid community transmission and the natural immune decline associated with aging, combined with the high prevalence of chronic diseases. Consequently, the successful development of vaccines, particularly RSV vaccines with adjuvants specifically designed for older adults and individuals with underlying conditions, represents a major breakthrough in disease prevention, significantly reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, serious complications, and mortality in these groups.
Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, Medical Director of the VNVC Vaccination System, noted that GSK is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies in vaccine research and manufacturing, continuously innovating to enhance the efficacy and safety of next-generation vaccines. GSK's RSV vaccine is specifically developed for older adults, based on a recombinant protein platform combined with an advanced adjuvant system. The vaccine uses RSV-specific protein components designed in their most immunologically active form, enabling earlier and more accurate virus recognition and supporting a strong immune response, even in older adults, individuals with frail health, or those with underlying conditions, thereby ensuring effective and durable protection.
“The RSV vaccine requires a single dose for those aged 60 and above, offering maximal and long-lasting protective efficacy. It can therefore be considered a simple, effective, and cost-efficient solution for older adults against a powerful, dangerous and prevalent RSV, especially amid environmental pollution and threats from flu, pneumococcus, and other respiratory diseases to older adults,” said Dr. Chinh.
Data from large-scale clinical studies involving more than 25,000 participants show that the vaccine provides 82.6% protection against RSV-related lower respiratory tract infection in individuals aged 60 and above, increasing to 94.6% in those with at least one underlying condition.
In Vietnam, the Vietnam Heart Association and the Vietnam Respiratory Association have updated professional recommendations, incorporating RSV prevention through vaccination into management strategies for common chronic diseases such as COPD and heart failure. This provides timely clinical guidance for physicians to better protect patients against RSV, a serious health threat that can undermine disease management and treatment outcomes across multiple medical specialties.
Studies indicate RSV imposes a massive disease burden on older adults. In 2019, it caused over 470,000 hospitalizations and about 33,000 in-hospital deaths among those aged 60 and above in high-income countries. In Vietnam, over a five-year period, RSV is estimated to have caused approximately 4.6 million infections, 200,000 hospitalizations, and 18,000 deaths among individuals over 60 years old. Numerous studies also confirm that RSV is the leading viral respiratory pathogen in older adults, with severe clinical progression and a high risk of pneumonia, particularly in cases of co-infection with other viruses.
Prof. Ngo Quy Chau, MD, PhD, President of the Vietnam Respiratory Society and Deputy Medical Director of Tam Anh General Hospital Hanoi, stated: "RSV represents a significant disease burden among older adults, yet there is currently no specific antiviral treatment. Therefore, proactive prevention through vaccination plays a particularly important role in protecting older adults, especially those with underlying and chronic conditions, by minimizing the risk of unpredictable and severe complications caused by this dangerous virus.”
According to Prof. Chau, recent studies show that RSV-related hospitalization and mortality in older adults exceed those caused by seasonal influenza. However, due to limited epidemiological surveillance and the lack of routine RSV testing in many healthcare facilities, particularly for hospitalized patients with respiratory symptoms, many cases remain undetected, making physicians and patients "ambushed" when severe complications occur, with disease progression from mild illness to critical condition or death within just a few days.
He emphasized that the availability of RSV vaccines with adjuvants specifically designed for older adults and people with underlying conditions opens new opportunities for proactive prevention in populations affected by age-related immune decline. This approach helps reduce hospitalization rates, severe complications, healthcare system overload, medical costs, and supports more effective control of coexisting chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, COPD, and diabetes.
"Tam Anh General Hospital Group, as part of the same healthcare ecosystem as VNVC, is also deploying RSV vaccination to facilitate early access to proactive and safe prevention for older adults and people with underlying conditions," Dr. Chau added.
Assoc. Prof Tran Dac Phu, MD, PhD, former Head of Preventive Medicine Department (Ministry of Health), also noted that RSV is a dangerous virus, causing pneumonia, particularly in older adults and people with underlying conditions who are at high risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death. He pointed out that current RSV surveillance remains limited, mainly focused on major hospitals and hospitalized cases, and therefore does not fully reflect the true burden of the disease in the community.
He highly appreciated the Ministry of Health's approval and VNVC's deployment of RSV vaccine for adults and people with underlying conditions, describing it as an important step forward in proactive disease prevention that helps protect high-risk groups early, reduce treatment pressure, and mitigate serious consequences caused by RSV.
On the first day of deploying the new UK RSV vaccine in Vietnam, many physicians and healthcare workers from the VNVC Vaccination System and Tâm Anh General Hospital proactively registered for early vaccination. With their professional understanding of the disease burden caused by RSV, particularly among older adults, the healthcare professionals highly acknowledged the importance of proactive prevention. Dr. Chinh stated that the decision to receive early vaccination was based on scientific evidence and robust data on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
To date, the vaccine has been approved in nearly 70 countries, with over 10 million doses administered worldwide, and has been recommended by numerous international medical organizations for people aged 60 and above, or those aged 50-59 at high risk.
Since early this year, VNVC has collaborated with leading global vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturers to introduce five next-generation vaccines and biological products to Vietnam, including pneumococcal vaccines PCV15 and PCV20 for the prevention of pneumonia; meningococcal vaccines for meningitis, and sepsis; Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for pregnant women, protecting mothers and transferring antibodies to newborns during the first six months of life, and for adults aged 60 and above; as well as Sanofi’s monoclonal RSV antibody for infants from birth to 24 months of age.
Simultaneously launching and deploying multiple RSV vaccines and biological products for all age groups reflects the joint efforts of VNVC and leading global pharmaceutical companies to provide continuous, comprehensive, and proactive protection against the dangerous RSV, from newborns and pregnant women to older adults in Vietnam. VNVC, together with manufacturers, also subsidizes vaccination costs during the initial rollout phase, particularly for communities severely affected by natural disasters and flooding.
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