3 ms·
The reason it's not recommended for all ages is money. Not safety concerns. Same reason you can't get Shingrix under a certain age.
by bboygravity 9mo ago
The reason it's not recommended for all ages is money. Not safety concerns.
Same reason you can't get Shingrix under a certain age.
- lotsofpulp 9mo agoI would happily pay for Shingrix.
- anjel 9mo agoPrepare your happy for a very profit-laden high three-figure bill.
- lotsofpulp 9mo agoLuckily, I can afford $999 to avoid experiencing Shingles.
- CydeWeys 9mo agoYour average HN reader can absolutely afford paying a few hundred bucks to avoid getting a potentially life-changing disease, and should. I know multiple young adults who got messed up by shingles.
- happymellon 9mo agoYou can get it in the UK, unsubsidised from a profit driven private company, for a mid-three figure amount. https://www.boots.com/online/pharmacy-services/shingles-vaccination-service https://www.boots.com/online/pharmacy-services/shingles-vacc... > Price per dose:£230 > Full course (2 doses):£460
- loeg 9mo agoMedium 3-figure at most. $400-600 for the full two-dose series.
- prirun 9mo agoI think the main reason it isn't recommended for all ages is that it wears off. If you get it before 50, when your immune system starts declining, you might end up getting shingles when you're 60 or 70. Insurance companies used to only pay for the vaccine at 60. They've reduced it to 50 now because people (like me) were getting it in their 50's. I got it in my left eye and because my immune system is kinda shit, I still have it, though it doesn't give me too much grief now. But it did trash my cornea in that eye, so it's messed my vision up pretty good. And since there's still an active infection (after 8 years), I can't get a cornea transplant. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/two-dose-shingles-vaccine-is-still-highly-effective-after-four-years https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/two-dose-shin...
- jghn 9mo agoMy PCP actually recommended holding off until later in the 50s for this reason. There's not currently a booster so his suggestion was to play the odds & delay a bit in order to get longer protection in my elderly years.
- robocat 9mo agoYou are betting: (1) a booster won't be invented in next say 20 years and (2) you will live next 20 years (likely if you are healthy and have a healthy lifestyle)
- CydeWeys 9mo agoBeg for forgiveness, don't ask permission. I got Shingrix when I was under the age of 40, and at no cost to myself even, simply by scheduling a Shingrix vaccine at CVS. It wasn't until I went back for the booster shot months later that the nurse was like "Wait, aren't you too young for this?", but they nevertheless gave me the second dose to complete the vaccine course. You can just so things.
- loeg 9mo agoI was unable to get a first dose just by asking the pharmacy -- they were happy to enforce the arbitrary 50 year age rule. But my PCP was happy to just prescribe it off-label. Do it; shingles is terrible and there's no reason to suffer it under 50.
- refurb 9mo agoIf by “money” you mean “spending limited health dollars on treatments where the benefit justifies the amount spent” then you’d be correct.