CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- A new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, could soon be rolled out.

Pfizer hopes the Food and Drug Administration will approve its vaccine for infants from birth to six months of age over the summer.

Dr. Costi Sifri at the University of Virginia Health System says the vaccine is more than 80 percent effective in protecting children from severe illness.

He says this is good news considering the harsh RSV season infants and young children experienced this year.

"But it's given as to give women who were in their second or third trimester of pregnancy the RSV vaccine, and they then develop the antibodies and are able to pass them on to the child and protect them during the highest risk of RSV infection for children, which is, again, a period of time from birth to six months of age," said Sifri.

He hopes to see the vaccine made available for older populations too.