Herpes zoster (shingles) immunisation programme 2017 to 2018: evaluation report
Evaluation of the fifth year of the shingles vaccination programme in England from 2017 to 2018.
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In 2017 to 2018, patients became eligible for the shingles vaccine on their 70th and 78th birthday. Data underlying this report were collected according to the previous eligibility criteria, when patients were eligible if they were 70 or 78 on the 1st of September of that year.
As a result eligible individuals are split across the 69 and 70 year old cohorts and the 77 and 78 year old cohorts and coverage in the routine (70 year old) and catch up (78 year old) cohorts is presented in this report does not fully represent the vaccination status of the eligible cohorts. Therefore results from the routine and catch up cohorts will be presented with additional 69 and 77 year olds vaccinated in the past year.
After taking this into account, this suggests that coverage has increased compared to that achieved in 2016 to 2017, possibly reversing the downward trend seen in previous years. GPs are urged to continue to offer vaccinations to these cohorts as per current guidance, to improve protection in these age groups.
For a comparison, see the Herpes zoster (shingles) immunisation programme 2016 to 2017: evaluation report.