Shingles – Vaccine

Transcript

The Zostavax and Shingrix shingles vaccines are the two FDA vaccines which have been approved to protect people from getting the varicella zoster virus. As opposed to Zostavax, which is a live vaccine, Shingrix is not a live vaccine. It’s a recombinant vaccine. Shingrix is recommended by the CDC because it’s more effective and probably lasts longer to protect people against shingles. There are a few different groups of people who must not get the shingles vaccine. The first of these groups is any woman who is either trying to get pregnant or is pregnant or breastfeeding. The second group is people who have had cancer, especially lymphoma or leukemia, or someone receiving cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or steroids. The third group is anyone who has had an allergic reaction to any component of the shingles vaccine.