Free shingles vaccine for people aged 65 and over and immunocompromised people

Following the recommendations of the High Council for Infectious Diseases (Conseil supérieur des maladies infectieuses - CSMI), the vaccine "Shingrix", which aims to reduce the incidence of shingles, will be made available free of charge by the Health Directorate from April 2023. The vaccine will be available for distribution to doctors in the coming days. Patients who meet the criteria for vaccination and wish to be vaccinated against shingles should contact their GP.

According to the CSMI recommendations, vaccination is recommended for the following people:

  • Adults aged 65 years and over, with 2 doses given 2 to 6 months apart;
  • Adults aged 18 years and older who are or will be immunocompromised due to illness or treatment, with 2 doses given 1 to 2 months apart.

People between the ages of 50 and 65 can also be vaccinated, according to the instructions in the vaccine leaflet. However, for this age group the vaccination will not be part of the national vaccination programme and will not be made available free of charge by the Health Directorate. These people will have to go to their GP to obtain a medical prescription for the vaccine and then buy it in a pharmacy.

Shingles is a skin rash with blisters, which is often painful. The rash usually occurs on one part of the body and may last for several weeks. The virus that causes shingles is the same as the chickenpox virus. When a person has had chickenpox, the virus remains in the body in the nerve ganglia. It can happen that after several years, when the immune system weakens, due to age, illness or specific treatment, this virus can cause shingles.

Shingrix vaccine thus helps to reduce the occurrence of shingles episodes and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is very severe, long-lasting pain following shingles.

If you have any questions about the vaccine, you should talk to your doctor.

For more information:

  • The recommendations of the CSMI can be consulted on sante.lu under the heading "Conseil Supérieur des Maladies Infectieuses (CSMI)" of national recommendations of the "Espace Professionel".
  • More information on the vaccine and the patient leaflet is available on sante.lu in the thematic folder, "vaccination".

Press release by the Ministry of Health 

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