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RSV Success Strategies
Success Strategies for RSV Vaccination in Long-term Care Facilities

Released: April 29, 2025

Expiration: April 28, 2026

Rebecca M. Wester
Rebecca M. Wester, MD, CMD
Activity Information

Activity

Progress
1
Course Completed
Key Takeaways
  • Two major barriers of RSV vaccine implementation in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are vaccine access and vaccine hesitancy.
  • The key to ensuring access to vaccines for LTCF residents is planning ahead and early coordination with inhouse or local pharmacists.
  • Community, not compliance, is key when addressing vaccine hesitancy. Incorporating vaccine education into community meetings and having one-on-one discussion to address residents’ concerns are effective ways to improve vaccine confidence.

Respiratory syncytial vaccine (RSV) infection can have dire consequences, particularly for older adults and those at risk for severe disease. Residence in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is considered a risk factor for severe RSV, indicating that LTCF residents should receive the RSV vaccine. However, healthcare professionals (HCPs) face unique challenges implementing RSV vaccination. Here, we summarize key findings from 3 workshops on RSV vaccine implementation in LTCFs, including vaccination barriers and facilitators, and success strategies that can help you devise your own action plan for increasing RSV vaccine uptake in your LTCF. 

Access to Vaccines
The first key issue that came to light during the workshops was vaccine access, both in terms of vaccine stock and insurance coverage. The solutions for overcoming these barriers primarily involve planning ahead and beginning the process of RSV vaccine implementation in the spring rather than the fall or even the summer.

The best way to ensure access to an adequate vaccine stock for all eligible residents is to begin coordinating with pharmacists as early as April or May. Establish the need for RSV vaccination early on with your infection preventionists. Determine which patients are eligible well in advance, ideally a few months before the RSV season begins.

From there, coordinate with pharmacists in the spring to estimate which vaccines to stock, or you can form partnerships with local pharmacies to provide and administer vaccines. This way, if your LTCF does not have access to in-house pharmacy services, staff can arrange for residents to travel to local pharmacies to receive their vaccines.

Additional nuance came to light in terms of obtaining insurance coverage for RSV vaccines. For many residents, the RSV vaccine is covered under Medicare Part D. However, for residents with non-Medicare insurance, it is important to determine which vaccine their insurance covers—adjuvanted, unadjuvanted, or the mRNA vaccine—and ensure that these vaccines are available so that residents will not be charged out of pocket if they choose to be vaccinated.

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy
The second major theme that emerged during the workshops was how to address vaccine hesitancy. Workshop participants’ consensus was to tackle this issue by emphasizing community, not compliance. That is, HCPs should have conversations that emphasize the benefits of vaccination, rather framing it as a requirement. 

Many workshop participants found that one-on-one conversations with residents were important for educating them about the burden of RSV and vaccination benefits, as well as assuaging their fears regarding adverse effects. One way to do this is to incorporate vaccination discussions into regulatory visits, or well-visits, in the months leading up to RSV season.

Other participants found it effective to hold vaccine education during scheduled resident meetings and to designate a vaccination champion among the residents or staff. Anecdotally, they said that teaching residents about how vaccines are developed and how they work demystified the process, and characterizing the vaccine as a scientific achievement helps motivate residents to get vaccinated. 

Finally, it may help to think outside the box to motivate residents and staff to participate in vaccine campaigns. Rewards such as raffle entries or small prizes can help improve vaccine uptake and incentivize participation, making it fun rather than intimidating.

Your Thoughts
If you work in an LTCF, how do you approach vaccine implementation with your residents? If you work in a different setting, do you think these ideas could be applied to your patients as well? Why or why not? Leave a comment to join the discussion!