900,000 Brits Eligible for Shingles Vaccination

In the United Kingdom, 900,000 more adults have recently become eligible for a shingles vaccination. Those newly eligible for a shingles vaccine include all those turning 65 and 70 and those aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system.

Those aged 70-79 remain eligible for the vaccine.

Following the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the NHS announced on September 1, 2023, that the shingles vaccination program has tod been expanded to protect more people at an earlier age.

The Shingrix®, a non-live, adjuvanted recombinant vaccine, is available through GP surgeries in primary care and can be offered throughout the year.

Dr. Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency, commented in a press release, "Shingles is an excruciating condition, and complications can be long-lasting. Older people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable, so I'd encourage all those newly eligible from today to come forward."

According to the NHS, about 20% will develop shingles in their lifetime.

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral infection of an individual nerve and the skin surface served by that nerve. 

Shingles can occur at any age, but the risk and severity of shingles increase with age, and complications are higher in individuals with severely weakened immune systems and those older.

Symptoms of the disease can include blindness, hearing loss, nerve pain and, in some cases, death.

In the first five years after a shingles vaccine was introduced in England in 2013, there were 45,000 fewer GP consultations and 1,840 fewer hospitalizations for shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia, showing the program's overall impact in protecting the public.