Messy RSV Shot Rollout Puts Infants at Risk
Scientists invented a new monoclonal antibody that can protect babies from a risky winter virus. But parents and pediatricians are struggling to find it.
Hang in there, little one.
Photographer: Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/Getty Images/Star TribuneA hot new product has been sending parents of newborns on a wild goose chase this holiday season. Message boards are filled with chatter about how to find it. It could take hours on the phone to track down. No, it’s not a Furby or a Barbie Dreamhouse. It’s a new protective treatment for RSV, the respiratory virus that sends up to 80,000 babies and toddlers to the hospital each year.
AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s Beyfortus is an antibody that, akin to a vaccine, can protect littles from the worst of the highly seasonal virus for five months. It’s been in short supply ever since it landed on the market this fall. Somehow even after multiple Covid vaccine rollouts, the US public health infrastructure still lacks the coordination to efficiently distribute life-saving products.