New shingles vaccine can be hard to find

#Middlebury #Seniors #Shingles

Ninety-nine percent of us over the age of 40 had chickenpox when we were kids. That virus is still in our bodies … and it can reactivate at any time as shingles.

Do you know someone who has had shingles? Did their experience make you want to rush to the doctor for the shingles vaccine? If you did get the vaccine years ago, do you feel confident knowing it offers a protection rate of only 50 percent, and only for a few years? Fear not, they say … there’s a new, more effective shingles vaccine, available since 2017.

Shingrix offers protection at a 90-percent rate. It’s taken in two doses, two to six months apart. Unlike the old vaccine, this one will still be at least 85 percent effective four years after you get it.

Researchers say one in three of us will get shingles because our immune systems decline as we age. If we’re over the age of 50, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we should have the Shingrix vaccine. If we had the old vaccine between the ages of 50 and 59, we might not be covered in later years.

Finding the new vaccine, however, might be a problem. It’s easy to find locations that give the shot, but whether they have it on hand is another matter. Start by calling your doctor’s office to see if they have it in stock and if you should have it. (There might be reasons you shouldn’t.) If you need it but the doctor doesn’t have it, put your ZIP code in the search box on vaccinefinder.org and start making calls to local pharmacies. Be sure to specify Shingrix. You might be put on a wait list.

And don’t forget your Medicare or insurance card. Shingrix is expensive.

© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

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