Shingles: Older People

(asked on 13th May 2026) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of adults aged (1) 80 and over, and (2) 60 and over, who will develop shingles during the period between when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation issued advice that each cohort should receive the shingles vaccine and the planned date of implementation for each cohort.


Answered by
Baroness Merron Portrait
Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 10th June 2026

The second phase of the routine shingles vaccination programme for immunocompetent adults is due to begin on 1 September 2028, after which adults will become eligible at age 60 and 65 years old.

The Government is considering the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on expanding shingles vaccination to adults aged 80 years old and over.

Shingles incidence is not routinely collected and published. We therefore do not hold an estimate of the number of shingles cases likely to occur in these age cohorts in these timeframes.

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