Shingles is the adult manifestation of the chickenpox virus, a herpes virus that once you have it, you have it forever. it can flare up later in life. the vaccine for it is incredibly effective at preventing heart disease (source: https://www.acc.org/about-acc/press-releases/2026/03/16/19/33/shingles-vaccine-drastically-cuts-risk-of-serious-cardiac-events ) so please help yourself and your community and get vaccinated today!
It’s so frustrating to me that the vaccine is 50+, as if the rest of us can’t get it. I WISH I could get my shongles shit today.
Assuming you live in the US, you could go to a pharmacy that does vaccines (most of the big ones) and get a shingles shot as long as you are over 19 and say you have an immunocompromising illness. And theoretically your insurance should pay for it as well. The paperwork and online scheduling/screening software won’t ask or care about specifics, though if the pharmacist is curious, they may ask.
There isn’t much data to suggest getting the vaccine earlier would be particularly helpful if you are immune competent, but you can do with that information what you will.
Protop: contract a debilitating autoimmune disease and get on immunosuppressants that don’t suppress the disease but do qualify you for all the niche vaccines from an early age
Or just work in healthcare
I had a shongles flare up when I was a teen. Can it also happen only once like chicken pox, or can there be a round 3? Wondering if I still need to get the shit or not
You can get shingles multiple times, unfortunately. Talk to your doctor; they may recommend you get the shingles vaccine early if you have already had an episode. But if it’s been a while with no more episodes, it may be reasonable to wait until 50.