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WA Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infant and Maternal Immunisation Program

  • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a notifiable infectious disease in Western Australia. Hospital admission due to RSV is 8 times higher than admission from influenza among children aged younger than 1 year.
  • Subscribe to the WA Department of Health Vaccine updates (external site) e-newsletter to receive key updates and communications on this and other immunisation programs.

What RSV immunisation programs are available in WA?

In WA, there are two ways to protect eligible babies and children from RSV:

  • Option A – Abrysvo (state-wide): The maternal RSV vaccine (Abrysvo) is funded under the National Immunisation Program. Pregnant women are recommended to receive the RSV vaccine from 28 weeks gestation to protect infants from birth through to 6 months.
  • Option B – Beyfortus (*Kimberley and Pilbara regions ONLY): The WA Department of Health offers the infant RSV immunisation program to protect eligible infants and children most at risk of severe RSV disease. Beyfortus is an antibody that provides immediate protective immunity against RSV infection. Refer to eligibility accordion below for more details.

*Note: Local disease trends in the northern regions of WA show the risk of RSV infection extends for longer than the traditional winter RSV season seen in the rest of WA. For this reason, Beyfortus is available year-round for eligible babies living in, or who are soon to live in, the Kimberley and Pilbara only.

Both Abrysvo and Beyfortus are offered at participating maternity hospitals, general practices, Aboriginal medical services, and community health immunisation clinics. Community pharmacies will offer Abrysvo but not Beyfortus.

For babies and young children that meet the eligibility criteria, Beyfortus is available regardless of Medicare card access.

Printable resources

The following resources are available to print.

For community (Please share this resource with your patients)

For providers

Immunisation decision aids

Fact sheet

Non-clinical frequently asked questions

Consent forms

Eligibility

Throughout WA, Abrysvo is offered to all pregnant people from 28 weeks gestation.

In the Kimberley and Pilbara regions, Beyfortus is offered to:

  • Non-Aboriginal child without high-risk condition aged < 8 months
  • Aboriginal children without a medical-risk condition up to 24 months of age
  • All children with a medical-risk condition up to 24 months of age

NOTE: Beyfortus should not be administered to children aged 24 months and older

Note: If a mother has received Abrysvo, Beyfortus is not recommended for the infant, unless the infant has a high-risk condition, the mother is immunocompromised or insufficient time (<2 weeks) between Abrysvo administration and the infants birth has occurred to ensure adequate antibody generation.

 

For additional clarification, please consult the RSV immunisation decision aids listed above.

Medically at-risk children 

Children aged up to 24 months with the conditions outlined below are at an increased risk of severe RSV disease and would benefit from a dose of Beyfortus when entering their second RSV season.

Dose recommended

  • 200 mg (administered through 2 separate 100 mg IM injections during the same visit).

Conditions at increased risk for severe RSV disease in infants and young children:

  1. Preterm birth <32 weeks gestational age
  2. Haemodynamically significant congenital heart disease
  3. Significant immunosuppression, such as from malignancy, solid organ transplant, haematopoietic stem cell transplant, or primary immune deficiencies such as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
  4. Chronic lung disease requiring ongoing oxygen or respiratory support
  5. Neurological conditions that impair respiratory function
  6. Cystic fibrosis with severe lung disease or weight for length <10th percentile
  7. Trisomy 21 or another genetic condition that increases the risk of severe RSV disease.
Timing and co-administration of RSV immunisation

It is recommended that pregnant women receive the Abrysvo vaccine from 28 weeks gestation with an interval of at least 2 weeks between vaccination and birth. Abrysvo can be safely administrated at the same time as other routine antenatal vaccines. It is important to also assess the pertussis and influenza vaccination status and offer those vaccines if appropriate.

Beyfortus can be safely administrated at the same time as other routine childhood vaccines. Beyfortus should not be administered to children aged 24 months and older.

Clinical guidance and education

The RSV module has been developed by WA Department of Health to provide updated information to relevant WA immunisation providers that administer RSV immunisations to eligible pregnant women or infants and children. Immunisation providers working under the CEO of Health SASA must complete this module. To access the module, visitImmunisation education and click on the ‘WA Health modules and registration’ button.

For detailed clinical guidance on the management of a range of possible RSV immunisation product administration errors, visit NCIRS (external site).

To view presentations about RSV and the immunisation products that prevent it, see Immunisation events under “RSV: January 2025”.

Supporting guidance

Reporting to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

All government funded vaccines are required to be recorded to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). This includes Abrysvo and Beyfortus. For training and assistance on how to edit or enter data into the AIR visit: Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) - Health Professional Education Resources (servicesaustralia.gov.au) General information about reporting of immunisations can be found on Immunisation provider information and resources.

Recognised vaccination providers record an individual’s immunisation encounters using the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). AIR changes are communicated to software vendors registered with the Commonwealth, therefore you can submit information to AIR using your practice management software or Health Professionals Online Services (HPOS). Practices are responsible for ensuring they have the latest updates. Practices can subscribe to WAPHA newsletters to receive up to date information.

For further information, see:

Reporting Beyfortus dosage specifications

Children aged 8 months and older (regardless of weight) will require a dosage of 200 mg (2x100 mg doses). When reporting to the AIR, enter as a single dose. Please use only one batch number.

Recording immunisations for infants

It is mandatory to report all government funded vaccine administrations to the AIR, including birth doses.

An antenatal indicator has been added to the AIR, which allows vaccination providers to report to the AIR if a person is pregnant at the time of vaccine administration.

Infants not enrolled with Medicare or not eligible for Medicare are added to the AIR when a vaccination provider reports their vaccination details. When reporting vaccinations for infants add as much detail as possible to allow for future matching to a Medicare record.

Your practice management software provider can provide advice on recording encounters to the AIR.

If recording vaccinations using the AIR site for newborn babies that have not been named, use the term “Baby of (Mother’s first name)” as first name. For example, “Baby of Sally”. For multiple births, use “Baby 1 of (Mother’s first name)”, “Baby 2 of (Mother’s first name)”, etc. For surname, use mother’s surname.

For detailed instructions, refer to AIRM04INFO5 - Report vaccinations for infants to the AIR (servicesaustralia.gov.au).

Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) - Submitting to the AIR - Health Professional Education Resources (servicesaustralia.gov.au)

How to record infant RSV Beyfortus and birth dose Hep B on AIR

A reminder for providers that Beyfortus is a state-funded immunisation and is not on the National Immunisation Program (NIP), therefore ‘Other’ must be selected in the schedule field of AIR before ’Beyfortus (nirsevimab)’ can be chosen.

Hep B birth dose is administered under the National Immunisation Program (NIP), reporting of Hep B birth doses is under ‘Birth’ schedule.

View the Quick reference guide for immunisation providers (PDF 488KB) for clarity on how to report RSV Beyfortus and Hep B birth doses if entering records directly into AIR.

View the WAPHA Mandatory Reporting Vaccine Type for AIR - WA Immunisation Schedule 2025 (Reporting Guide) for general practice staff

 

 

Immunisation safety

In 2024, over 20,000 children were immunised with Beyfortus across WA. WA Health monitored reactions following Beyfortus via SMS, and received the following feedback:

  • 93 per cent of parents reported no adverse events following Beyfortus (when Beyfortus was the only immunisation administered)
  • most reactions were minor and resolved quickly
  • 23 Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) were reported to WA Vaccine Safety Surveillance (WAVSS).

The WA Department of Health conducts ongoing monitoring of adverse events following immunisation. A paper has been published on safety surveillance of nirsevimab in WA children between April and July 2024.

Contraindications to receiving Abrysvo or Beyfortus

Contraindications to Abrysvo use are:

Pregnant people who are less than 28 weeks gestation are not yet recommended to receive Abrysvo.

The only absolute contraindications to Beyfortus use are: 

  • anaphylaxis after a previous dose of the same monoclonal antibody
  • anaphylaxis after any component of a monoclonal antibody.

WA Health recommends that Beyfortus immunisation should be deferred for individuals with a moderate or severe acute illness. This recommendation is only to avoid diagnostic confusion that may arise between the underlying illness and side effects from the immunisation.

Potential side effects

Severe side effects after Abrysvo and Beyfortus are uncommon. The most common side effects for pregnant people who receive Abrysvo are injection site pain and fatigue.

Beyfortus has been determined by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be safe and effective prior to approval for use in Australia. Like all medicines, Beyfortus may cause side effects in some, but not all infants, witha very remote chance of causing a severe allergic reaction.

In clinical trials however, side effects after Beyfortus administration were rare, with the most common being minor and resolving within a few days. These include pain, redness, rash or swelling at the injection site.

Reporting of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) to the Western Australian Vaccine Safety Surveillance (WAVSS) system is a condition of Structured Administrations and Supply Arrangements (SASAs) that provide the authority for immunisation providers to safely administer vaccinations in WA.

Ordering and cold chain management

Providers who offer immunisation services for pregnant women can order the NIP funded maternal RSV vaccine Abrysvo, via the Onelink (external site) ordering site. Government-funded Beyfortus immunisation doses are also available to order via Onelink (external site),

Abrysvo and Beyfortus must be stored between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and providers must follow WA cold chain protocol.

Last reviewed: 01-10-2025
wa.gov.au