Nothing beats the frequent handwashing and keeping hands away from face (especially eyes, nose and mouth). Of course, vaccinations are important as recommended as well.
Folks who have respiratory conditions do get pneumonia shots sooner than age 65, but FAR better not to have chronic respiratory conditions.
I’m under 65 and my doctor had no problem giving it to me. Just didn’t know if my insurance would cover it. Haven’t gotten a bill yet and I got it in September.
When I got my shingles vaccine before turning 60, I had to pay out of pocket and my insurer refused to cover any of the cost, citing CDC recommendations which at that time were for folks who were 60 and older, even tho my physicians recommended I get the vaccine since I and my H and D had each had shingles in separate incidents and I really didn’t want a repeat. Insurer may balk and you may be sent a bill from whomever administered your pneumonia shot, @emilybee.
@HImom, I have no problem paying for it if my insurance doesn’t cover it. Told my doctor I didn’t care if it wasn’t covered.
I waited until I turned 60 to get the shingle shot. At my next PCP appt I’m asking for the new vaccine too. I’ll gladly pay for that too if necessary.
Insurance paid in full for my shingles vaccine when I was 56, so it’s worth checking into.
There is a new shingles vaccine coming out very soon (Shingrix). It is supposed to be more effective, and it’s maker says it is intended for ages 50 and over. (But it looks like the CDC is still saying 60 and over – we will see what insurance companies say).
I asked my dr about it this week when there for the flu shot, and she said we should talk about it next year, depending on what insurance companies decide to cover (and let it be in the market for a little while before I get it – that is my preference, anyway).
Well, I will get the new shingles vaccine if my doctor deems it advisable. I did pay for the initial one at age 50 out of my own pocket and feel it was money well spent!
@HImom, everything I’ve read said to get the new vaccine even if you’ve had the old one.
Yes, I’ve also read that it is recommended that folks who got the old shingles vaccine also get the new one as well, @emilybee, but I will wait until I see my physicians and see what they recommend as well. Shingles is VERY nasty. Both D and H needed narcotics to be able to sleep at all and even then it was very fitful sleep. They both had a great deal of pain and D still has scars from it, though it was over a decade ago.
Thanks @emilybee for relating your experience with the pneumonia shot. I think insurance was my MD’s concern. I don’t mind paying myself if necessary unless there is a good medical reason for waiting.
I do think some doctors assume if your insurance won’t cover that they shouldn’t even bring it up. I appreciate that they are conscientious about cost (some docs don’t even pay attention), but sometimes I wonder if they steer me down paths where I might choose a different option and be willing to pay for it.
W’s insurance covers the shingles shot once you’re over 50… in theory. In practice, it wasn’t showing as covered when the doc looked it up, so W called United to figure it out. They said to just get the shot and send in the receipt and they’d reimburse her. Well many months and many phone calls later, no reimbursement ever arrived and W gave up the fight.
Most insurance companies aren’t covering until 60 at the moment. At least she got the shot – I suspect it was cheap at the price if has helped her avoid shingles.
She actually got the shot about a year post-shingles - that was the impetus for getting it. Fortunately W saw her doc very early and got a shot of something that helped to keep it very mild.
Re: shingles and vaccines
Seems that the usual treatment for shingles is an oral antiviral (acyclovir or one of its variants). Different people may get different combinations of symptoms (e.g. rash but no pain, pain but no rash, both pain and rash).
From both news/research and anecdotal observations of people I know, Merck Zostavax (the vaccine that has been around for a while) is not that effective. GSK Shingrix (the just-approved one) is supposed to be more effective.
It is possible to get shingles more than once. I know someone who had it twice (the second time some years after getting Merck Zostavax).
“It is possible to get shingles more than once. I know someone who had it twice”
It is bad enough once. I think that it is very much worth getting the vaccination.
By the way this thread motivated me to get my flu shot (at Rite Aid) about a month ago. Thanks to OP for the reminder. The shot is definitely a lot better at least in my experience than getting the flu.
When my mom got shingles (even though she has the vaccine) she was given a cream of some sort. According to her doctor most people aren’t offered prescription for the cream because it is extremely expensive (like $1k) and most insurance companies don’t cover it - but hers did. It worked amazingly fast.
I’ve had shingles three times (my first time was when I was only 28) and the pain is excruciating. Perhaps that’s why insurance covered me before I was 60. I’ll definitely look into the new vaccine, but so far this one has worked perfectly for me, thank goodness.
An interesting article about the flu vaccine just came out.
It turns out one reason the vaccine is not as effective as expected, is that the virus mutates in the eggs used to make the vaccine: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-vaccine-ldquo-factories-rdquo-create-errors-that-reduce-protection/
Manufacturers are going to have to change how they make the vaccine to fix this, but that will take years.
Last year’s vaccine was only 42% effective, and I’m seeing lots of articles that this year’s vaccine could be even less effective. Ugh.
Re: #98
If you are concerned about the A-H3N2 part of the vaccine being less effective in the egg-based vaccines, you may want to specifically look for FLUCELVAX or Flublok.