According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) a new shingles vaccine called Shingrix (recombinant zoster vaccine) was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. The CDC recommends that healthy adults 50 years and older get two doses of Shingrix, 2 to 6 months apart. Shingrix provides strong protection against shingles and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the most common complication from shingles. Shingrix is the preferred vaccine, over Zostavax®, a shingles vaccine in use since 2006. Zostavax may still be used to prevent shingles in healthy adults 60 years and older. For example, Zostavax can be used if a person is allergic to Shingrix, prefers Zostavax, or requests immediate vaccination and Shingrix is unavailable.
You can get Shingrix at your doctor’s office or pharmacy. Talk to your doctor before getting Shingrix to be sure this vaccine is right for you. Also, call your health insurance provider ahead of time to see if they will cover the vaccine. Here is a link for more information about shingles https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html
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