Table 2.

International recommendations and the specific patient populations that could benefit from vaccination against respiratory infections in the UAE

Specialism	Which patients should be vaccinated?					What guidelines on vaccination use are used?
	Influenza	COVID-19	Pneumococcal	RSV vaccine	RSV prophylaxis	Influenza	COVID-19	Pneumococcal	RSV
Cardiology	All cardiac event cases (high risk) with MI, CHF, and CRS			All patients ≥ 65 years that are susceptible to complication from RSV	Infants with CHD (< 1 years) [18]	ACC [52]; ESC [53]			Not stated
Endocrinology	Patients with diabetes (with or without risk factors)				No	AACE [54]; CDCa [55]			N/A
Internal medicine	All adults; patients at high risk				No	US and local UAE guidelines			N/A
Obstetrics and gynecology	All pregnant women during high season	Patients at risk	Not sure	Individuals with medical conditions [51]	High-risk patients during high season [18]	ACOG; RCOG	ACOG; RCOG [49]	No	ACOG [42], RCOG
Oncologyb	All immunocompromised patients with cancer; patients who have not been vaccinated				No	ESMO; NCCN [5]
Pediatrics	All > 6 months	If available, for all patients at high risk	All children (PPSV23 for high-risk group)		High-risk (< 2 years), preterm infants (< 1 years) Infants with CHD (< 1 years) Immunocompromised infants during the RSV season (< 2 years) [18]	ACIP [55]; IDSA [56]	ACIP [55]		Local and regional guidelines adapted from AAP [41]
Primary care	Everyone (very low uptake)		Patients at high risk		None	None
Public health	All patients at high risk	Not recommended by national authority	Children and elderly		Not recommended by national authority	National guidelines (MOHP)	N/A	National guideline (MOHP)	N/A

AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, AAP American Academy of Pediatrics, ACC American College of Cardiology, ACOG American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ACIP Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CHD chronic heart disease, CHF chronic heart failure, CKD chronic kidney disease, CRS cardio-renal syndrome, ESC European Society of Cardiology, ESMO European Society for Medical Oncology, FDA Food and Drug Administration, IDSA Infectious Diseases Society of America, MI myocardial infarction, MOHP Ministry of Health & Prevention, N/A not applicable, NCCN National Comprehensive Cancer Network, PPSV23 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, RCOG Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, UAE United Arab Emirates, US United States

^aOn June 27, 2024, the CDC adopted the ACIP’s recommendations for use of 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines in people aged ≥ 6 months as approved or authorized by FDA [57]

^bInfluenza vaccine recommended annually in oncology specialism