Shingles Vaccinations

Extension to the shingles immunisation programme (England): Individuals become eligible for routine vaccination against shingles when they reach age 70, and all those aged up to and including 79, are now eligible to receive the vaccine until they reach age 80.  
Individuals who are eligible for the shingles vaccination programme who turned 80 years during the pandemic and missed the opportunity to be vaccinated can now be vaccinated until 31 July

You’re eligible for the shingles vaccine if you’re aged 70 or 78 years old. This year it is available for those patients up to the age of 80. Please submit an Ask My GP request or ring reception and the staff will be able to book you in for your shingles jab.

More information can be found at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/shingles/

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the chickenpox virus (varicella-zoster virus).

You do not “catch” shingles – it comes on when there’s a reactivation of chickenpox virus that’s already in your body.

After you’ve recovered from chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus lies dormant in your nerve cells and can reactivate at a later stage when your immune system is weakened.