Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Thursday in favor of Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for pregnant people. FDA advisory committee votes are not binding, but the agency often follows their recommendations. If the FDA ultimately approves the vaccine, called Abrysvo, it would be the first in the U.S. to protect babies against RSV, which is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants under a year old. RSV is a common respiratory virus that typically causes mild symptoms but can cause severe illness, particularly in infants and older adults. An estimated 50,000 to 80,000 children under 5 years old are hospitalized due to RSV each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pfizer
PFE,
shares fell 0.7% Thursday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
gained 0.9%.