Have Shingles? There’s a New Vax for That!

A report just published in the New England Journal of Medicine presents the results of an investigation into the efficacy of a new anti-shingles vaccine — one that utilizes only a particular protein subunit of the virus to confer immunity against it.

Since the effectiveness of the immune system tends to wane with age, these researchers wanted to determine if the new vaccine would be as effective in older people (i.e. over 70) as it had been shown to be in those between 50 and 70. In an international study using centers in 18 countries, the researchers recruited over 13,000 individuals. Three thousand were over 80 years of age, and the rest were between 70 and 79. Half the participants were randomly assigned to receive 2 doses of the active vaccine, two months apart. The rest received placebo injections on the same schedule.

Of course, the price will be an issue.  I paid $350 for the old (50% effective) vaccine since I wanted it at age 50.  That didn’t fit the guideline.

That was before the age of Obamacare, everything is more expensive now.  Damn him.