The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) has called on the government to accelerate plans to expand shingles vaccination to those over 60 after new research suggested the jab could also reduce the risk of heart failure and strokes.
The study of 70,000 American patients, published on August 26, found a 10% reduction in coronary heart disease and a 12% reduction in heart failure in the seven years since the US switched from the Zostavax vaccine to Shingrix in 2017.
Under the current NHS programme, access to the Shingrix vaccine is being expanded over a 10-year period.
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Between September 2023 and August 2028, Shingrix will be offered to those turning 70 and 65. Then, from September 2028 to August 2033, the vaccine will be offered to those turning 65 and 60.
And from September 2033, Shingrix will be offered routinely to those aged 60 years old.
The IPA said the findings “provide further reason for people to take up the shingles vaccine where they are eligible”, adding that the disease can cause “serious complications” and the risk of developing it rises “substantially” with age.
“Folly”
IPA chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck said the new research raises the “exciting possibility” of the vaccine’s wider health benefits.
“Waiting until 2033 means leaving millions of people without potentially life-changing protection for years longer than necessary,” she added.
She called for an “urgent re-think from the NHS” and said it would be “folly” to wait until 2033 for the full rollout to over-60s.
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“Pharmacies are ready to deliver the programme, manufacturers are able to step up production, false economy must not be the excuse for delay,” she said.
And leader of the Oxford study Dr Maxime Taquet said that “if confirmed in clinical trials, vaccinating older adults against shingles could prevent hundreds of thousands of coronary heart diseases, strokes and cases of heart failure worldwide, making it one of the most impactful interventions we could offer to protect both the brain and the heart in later life”.
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It comes after local authorities were advised by the Local Government Association last month to work alongside pharmacies to ensure stronger vaccination coverage.
And it follows the Company Chemists’ Association urging the Health and Social Care Committee to “harness” community pharmacy to improve vaccine uptake in the UK.
