Free RSV vaccines for WA aged care residents

West Australians living in residential aged care are now eligible for a free respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine – a reform which follows sustained RACGP advocacy.
 
The State Government announced the new $2.6 million program on Thursday, which will see the Arexvy vaccine available at no cost to those aged 65 and older residing in aged care facilities.
 
An estimated 15,000 people will be vaccinated under the program, and it is the first time the vaccine has been subsidised for older West Australians.
 
It is a reform welcomed by RACGP Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman, who said the vaccine’s price is a barrier for many patients, costing around $300 privately.
 
‘This particular announcement is for residential and aged care homes, which is a positive step forward, but we would love to actually see this being available for all patients over the age of 65,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘Pensioners and senior citizens are not able to fork out the cost for the vaccination, so this is good news for aged care and residential care homes in WA.
 
‘We’re also hopeful it will help reduce the pressure on the hospital system and ramping as well.’
 
Dr Raman said the RACGP has been advocating strongly for the subsidised vaccine’s rollout, including working collaboratively with the WA Government to progress the reform.
 
‘We’ve been having several discussions with the Minister for Health, the Minister for Preventative Health, and the Department of Health in WA,’ she said.
 
‘We put forward the proposal that other states had already rolled out last winter … and we’d been in discussions since the last two winter cycles about funding for the RSV vaccine.
 
‘We were getting positive signals that this announcement would be most likely going into place, so it shows that we’ve got a collaborative relationship to enable other important public health policies.’
 
WA Premier Roger Cook said the program is aimed at keeping more West Australians healthy over the winter months, as well as easing the pressure on the state’s emergency departments.
 
‘Our health system is seeing more patients who are older, sicker and have complex health needs, reflecting the impact of an ageing population,’ he said.
 
The RACGP will now work with the WA Government, aged care providers, and primary care clinicians to ensure the smooth rollout of the program.
 
Last year, more than 177,000 cases of RSV were reported across Australia, with almost 13,000 of those being in WA.
 
Children aged 0–4 were the most impacted, accounting for around one quarter of cases nationwide.
 
The WA Government also announced it has now secured 130,000 doses of the FluMist intranasal vaccine for children aged 2–12, which will become available this flu season.
 
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