"... people who received two doses of the vaccine, regardless of when they received their second dose, experienced 79% vaccine effectiveness (VE) during the first year, with effectiveness decreasing to 73% by year 4. By contrast, the rate of effectiveness during the first year was 70% for people who received a single dose, falling to 52% effectiveness by year 4.
The findings also showed that the rate of effectiveness was 65% for those taking corticosteroids.
The CDC currently recommends two doses of RZV separated by 2-6 months for patients aged 50 years and older. Adults older than 19 years who are immunocompromised should receive two doses of RZV separated by 1-2 months,"
Other longerterm studies show that it is still effective after 7 years.
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They don’t mention that the efficacy of the vaccine seems to decrease with age. In UK it is not given to anyone older than 79 much to the disgust of an 80 year old friend of mine!!
I suspect she could have it privately. The UK has some strange ideas. I must ring and ask if I can have mine - no silly "only immediately after your 70th birthday" guff here!! The idea a date or birthday dictates medical events is so laughable ...
The NHS have got an incredibly complex system for anyone under 70 too for the vaccine.
“From 1 September 2023, you're eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 65. If you turned 65 before 1 September 2023, you'll be eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 70.”
Basically if you were 65 on 31 August 2023 you cannot have the vaccine for five years, but if you have you 65th birthday on 1 September 2023 you can have the vaccine now!!
Yes… it’s the fobbing off system, I’m afraid. No logical approach, making rules as they go along. One wonders who does actually decide on such matters.
I think that is the same in England and Wales as Scotland. You're eligible for the free shingles vaccine if you were aged 65 or 70 on 1 September 2023. This excludes people who were aged 66 to 69 on this date.
Not sure it is the same, or maybe I’ve misunderstood what you posted…
“From 1 September 2023, you're eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 65. If you turned 65 before 1 September 2023, you'll be eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 70.”
That suggests to me that you’re eligible if you turn 65 anytime on or after 1 September 2023. In Scotland it’s if you are 65 years of age as at 1 September 2023. So if your 65th birthday fell anytime between 2 September 2022 and 1 September 2023. My 65th birthday was in February 2023 (therefore before 1 September 2023) and I’m eligible now whereas going by the bit you quoted I wouldn’t have been eligible until 70 if I lived in England.
Anyway, I got mine last week so I don’t need to worry! Just wanted to clarify in case it affects anyone else who lives in Scotland.
Sorry I was just pointing out, as an example, that a younger person could get the vaccine before an older person. The rules are the same for all Great Britain. Obviously confusing everyone. I should have quoted the whole government recommendation. ‘You're eligible for the free shingles vaccine if you were aged 65 or 70 on 1 September 2023. This excludes people who were aged 66 to 69 on this date.’ It is the same rule for all Great Britain. Also it does not necessarily apply to anyone who is compromised.
There is an exception for the immunocompromised. Once I mentioned this to my surgery I was given the 1st vaccine last week age 66. Worth asking the question.
In April 2022, after I’d had my bout of shingles, I made enquiries about a private jab. I wasn’t eligible on the NHS then. Boots were doing them at a branch about 60 miles from me, so it would have meant two 120 miles round trip and would have cost me £450. At the time, I thought I’d got about 18 months before I was eligible on the NHS, so I thought I’d wait. The surgery told me I’d have about a year’s immunity after the shingles that I’d had. By August 2023 I’d got PMR, but even after Rheumatologist advised getting the jab, I was initially told I couldn’t have it at 69, I’d have to wait until 70. As per what Piglette quoted. I queried that, as I’ve got PMR, and was then given my first jab in November. Getting the next one next week. You do get the impression that after a certain age its not considered worthwhile spending the money on you.
I don't think the "year's immunity after shingles" is necessarily correct - I remember someone (not with PMR) saying their doctor said they had to wait a year after shingles to get the jab (also not correct) but they kept having another episode. All bets are off for people with autoimmune diseases.
I just went by what I’d been told by the surgery. At that time, I was 68 and couldn’t have one until I was 70. By the time the age restriction had changed, I’d got PMR. Was first told I couldn’t have it until 70, even though the restriction had been changed, but I persisted and someone must have realised that I was eligible after all because of the PMR. Relieved that I’m having the jab now anyway. Just need the second one next week.
.....that isn't confined to the UK....the insurance companies in the States get that attitude too. However, if you contact your insurance company personally (if you have been denied a test, for example) and very 'nicely tell them that should any ill befall you, your next step will be to hold them legally liable' .....they come around.💞
That is a shame...I had them at 80~! I remember when my gynecologist of several years told me at age 65 they 'could no longer' see me because they did not take Medicare patients (States). Funny....I've never seen an expiration date on me anywhere!!! 💞
On a holiday in Austria we were walking up a mountain and it was getting hotter and hotter. My mother said ‘it is getting hotter because we are nearer the sun!’ The scientific community really missed out not having my mother amongst them!
She wasn't all wrong though - the air is thinner and you do get more heat from the sun. But in Austria it could have been a temperature inversion - was warmer up the mountain today than down here.
We were actually sitting down near the bottom of a hill having a picnic! It was a gloriously hot day though. She often came up with comments like that. One was ‘no one is going to use the internet, none of my friends do!!’
me too. I play in a band of (zimmer frame) rockers and the other guitarist got shingles 3 years ago and had to be put in an induced coma for 2 months. Terrifying. He still has pain, and fatigue. Lucky to survive. He is 73. Unvaccinated.
Poor soul...they can be relentless. They were all over the side of my face, on both lids of my good eye, in my mouth and up my nose. That may be a bit too much info...or an inducement to get vaccinated. My physician supplied me with Lidocaine lotion, thank heaven~!💞
God - you suffered. I never realised how horrific this could be. Now MMR is in the headlines with surging cases of non-vaxed children and similarly increasing incidences of deafness etc.. Had the second Shingrix - side effects much worse with second dose. - prob a good thing!
Yes, I've got to get that second dose next week. Thanks for the info, so far I have had no reaction to anything....but I'll brace myself. Soooo much better than shingles!!💞
I recently asked my GP if I was eligible for the shingles vaccination. She arranged an appointment for me but then I received a call to say I was not eligible. I am 67 so did not qualify on age. Also I did not qualify because I have not had more than 10mg of pred for four weeks in the last four months (or something like that). That is according to The Green Book. When I said I had had 10mg of pred in that period the nurse said she would ask the GP for a prescription which would then allow me to have it. Waiting at the moment.
NHS spends all this money and time on public service alerts drawing us in ... and then denies us. I am leukopenic - borderline, but it seems to freak them out enough to put the green book to one side. It seems to help them pick the right box.
This is a timely thread. I had my first Shingrix vaccine 6 months ago and am reminded that it is time for the second. Must call my GP now that everybody is back from summer break at the beach. 😎
The rules here are as peculiar as they are in the UK. You have to be "exactly" 65 years old to get it for free. The rules may well be changing because they way they implemented this was clumsy and created holes for certain age groups. I was exactly 65 years old for one day in mid 2017, the system started in 2018. Do they hire lawyers to write these regulations rather than qualified medical practitioners? 😉
For reasons I don't understand I got my first one for free anyway just 6 months ago. The funding system only started in 2018, and there was a window to catch up with people (like me) who were now older then exactly 65 in 2018, but that window closed at 31-Dec-2021. The health system and I were a tad busy with Covid pandemics lockdowns during most of the window. I was also on a high enough dose of prednisone to count as immunocompromised for part of the catch up window. I no longer count as immunocompromised today (the NZ rules on that are also slightly different from the UK rules). We'll see if I have to pay for the second one. It depends on which set of complex yet overlapping rules they use. That is way beyond my understanding.
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