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Vaccination against a common respiratory virus during pregnancy lowers the risk of severe disease in babies by 74%, but uptake in many countries remains low, a new review suggests. The report also reveals evidence of lower uptake of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine among some socioeconomic and ethnic groups, those with reduced access to health care and younger mothers.

Despite the value of vaccination in preventing hospitalization and deaths in young infants, higher uptake is needed to maximize its benefits, experts say.

The study is published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe.

The findings demonstrate the need for targeted outreach, improved supply chain systems and robust policies as RSV vaccinations are rolled out globally, they add.

Vaccination against RSV during pregnancy—known as maternal vaccination—has been shown to give babies protection against the virus from the moment they are born.

More than 30 countries have now introduced the maternal RSV vaccine as either a stand-alone intervention or alongside other preventive measures, such as infant immunization.

Research led by a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and the University of Granada in Spain combined data from more than 4 million pregnancies between 2023 and 2025, across 16 studies, to estimate the uptake of vaccination programs.

K. in September 2024 was 62% of pregnant women vaccinated in October 2025. England achieved its highest vaccination rate of 58% in August 2025.

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