I know I am getting old now because I am starting to worry about shingles, the painful rash and blister disease that is a reactivation of chickenpox. If you never get chickenpox, you will never have shingles, but I did and now I am concerned.
Years ago, I thought shingles was something old people got. But, now that I am narrowing in on 50, it seems all too real a possibility. I was glad to hear there is a vaccine now to help prevent you from getting shingles.
But, there is bad news too. While the vaccine Zostavax has reduced the number of shingles as much as 50 percent, it seems that most people aren’t getting it.
Why wouldn’t someone one want to take a vaccine for shingles? After all, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that all adults over the age of 60 get the vaccine.
Well, they may not know it exists and even if they do, they may not be able to afford it. A survey conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado in Denver and the CDC showed that out of 600 primary care physicians, less than half strongly recommended their older patients get the vaccine.
If you think doctors are worried about the safety of the vaccine, you are wrong. If you think doctors are worried about the cost of the vaccine, then you’ve hit the nail on the head.
The vaccine for shingles costs anywhere between $160 and $195 per dose, almost 10 times what any other adult vaccine costs. A patient’s insurer may pay all or part of that cost, but often times, patients are required to pay upfront, and then get reimbursed. And we all know that many people over the age of 50 aren’t just rolling in extra money. So, while physicians don’t hesitate to suggest their patients get the flu vaccine, which is usually covered by insurance, they do with the shingles vaccine.
To help ease the cost, some physicians write a prescription for the vaccine, have the patients pick it up at the pharmacy, and bring it back to their office to receive the shot. The only problem with this approach is that the vaccine must remain frozen until just minutes before being given. If a patient has to travel very far and the vaccine starts to thaw, it can diminish its effectiveness.
Some doctors decided to send patients with their prescriptions to pharmacies that also serve as immunization clinics to have the shot administered, but this seems like such a hassle for something that should be simple.
I can’t help but think that the cost for the shingles vaccine has to far outweigh the care cost of patients that come down with shingles, so hopefully something will be worked out soon so more people can get this vaccine.