{"id":1114463,"date":"2026-07-27T16:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1114463\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T16:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:25:12","slug":"nhs-confirms-double-vaccine-for-older-adults-aged-65-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1114463\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS confirms double vaccine for older adults aged 65-80"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vaccination<\/p>\n

The shingles vaccine is available on the NHS to adults aged 65 to 80 (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

The NHS has confirmed a double vaccination is available for free for older adults aged between 65 and 80.<\/p>\n

The vaccine<\/a> protects against shingles<\/a>, an infection that causes a painful rash<\/a> on one side of your body and can take up to four weeks to heal. While most people recover from shingles without any problems, it can sometimes lead to more serious complications, including long-lasting pain, scarring, muscle weakness, hearing loss and eye problems that can lead to sight loss.<\/p>\n

Shingles often begins with a tingling or painful feeling<\/a> in an area of skin, a headache, or just generally feeling unwell, and a rash will usually appear a few days later. The rash often appears on your chest or tummy, but it can appear anywhere on your body, including on your face and eyes.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, you\u2019re more likely to get shingles as you get older or if you have a severely weakened immune system, and it\u2019s more likely to cause serious problems.<\/p>\n

To help minimise this risk, the NHS offers a shingles vaccine to older adults aged 65 to 80 to both reduce the risk of getting shingles, and minimise the chances of developing serious health issues if you do get the infection.<\/p>\n

As of September 1, 2023, all adults are eligible for the shingles vaccine when they turn 65 and will be offered two doses which are given between six and 12 months apart.<\/p>\n

If you turned 65 before September 1, 2023, you will be eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 70 and will remain eligible up until your 80th birthday.<\/p>\n

Confirming the eligibility, the NHS said: \u201cFrom 1 September 2023, you’re eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 65. You’ll be offered 2 doses of the vaccine. These are given between 6 and 12 months apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour GP should contact you to make an appointment to have your shingles vaccine. Contact your GP surgery if you think you’re eligible for the shingles vaccine and you’ve not been contacted about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ll remain eligible until your 80th birthday (but you can have your 2nd dose up until your 81st birthday). If you turned 65 before 1 September 2023, you’ll be eligible for the shingles vaccine when you turn 70.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone aged 70 to 79 is eligible for the shingles vaccine. You’ll be offered 2 doses of the vaccine. These are given between 6 and 12 months apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cContact your GP surgery if you missed your vaccine. You’re eligible up until your 80th birthday (but you can have your 2nd dose up until your 81st birthday).\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to get shingles more than once, so the NHS says it\u2019s important to get vaccinated even if you\u2019ve already had the infection before.<\/p>\n

Your GP surgery should contact you once you become eligible for the vaccine and this will usually be via a letter, text message, phone call or email.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re eligible and haven\u2019t yet been contacted, or you didn\u2019t get the vaccine when you were contacted and you\u2019re still under 80, you should speak to your GP surgery to book or rearrange an appointment.<\/p>\n

The NHS says side effects from the vaccine are usually mild and should get better within a few days. Symptoms can include swelling or itchiness around the injection site, a headache, feeling tired, an aching body, a high temperature and chills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shingles vaccine is available on the NHS to adults aged 65 to 80 (Image: Getty) The NHS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1114464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[51897,105,211,24255,147526,230145,16,15,2489],"class_list":["post-1114463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-eligibility-criteria","tag-health","tag-nhs","tag-older-adults","tag-shingles","tag-shingles-vaccine","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-vaccine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116992878159986579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1114464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}