CDC Updates its Shingles Disease and Vaccine Webpages to Reflect the New ACIP Vaccination Recommendations
A new shingles vaccine, Shingrix, 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). Shingrix is the preferred vaccine, over Zostavax®, a shingles vaccine in use since 2006.
Zostavax® may still be used to prevent shingles in certain cases for healthy adults 60 years and older. For example, you could use Zostavax if a person is allergic to Shingrix, prefers Zostavax or requests immediate vaccination and Shingrix is unavailable. To learn more, visit the CDC Web site.
Updated Resources
In light of the licensure of recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix; GSK) and the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) zoster recommendations published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on January 26, 2018, the CDC has updated the following related pages on its website:
- Shingles (Herpes Zoster) Vaccination
- What Everyone Should Know about Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix)
- Shingrix Information for Healthcare Professionals