PHARMAC are please to announce the approval of an agreement to fund the Zoster vaccine (Zostavax) from 1st April 2018.
From 1 April 2018 people aged 65 years will be able to get one funded zoster vaccine from their general practitioner.
There will also be a catch-up programme where, from 1 April 2018 until 31 March 2020, people aged between 66 and 80 years old will be eligible to receive a funded zoster vaccine.
People who meet the funding criteria can receive their zoster vaccine at the same time as their annual influenza vaccine.
Patients will be able to get their funded zoster vaccine from their general practitioner. Funded zoster vaccine will not be available through community pharmacies at this point, but this may be considered in the future.
We are aiming to get the Zostavax vaccine around the middle of April, the same time as the Flu vaccines.
For more information about the funded shingles vaccine, please phone our nurses line. 09 478 2878