Shingles vaccine

Medicine update Active

The shingles vaccine is funded for people aged 65 years old exactly and some immunocompromised people.

About the shingles vaccine

The funded vaccine brand is Shingrix. This replaced the Zostavax brand in 2022. Zostavax is no longer being made.

The shingles vaccine is fully funded for people aged 65. You need two doses of Shingrix, given 6 months apart. As long as you are 65 when you receive your first dose, both doses will be funded.

The shingles vaccine is also funded for some immunocompromised people:

  • People who are pre- and post- haematopoietic stem cell transplant or cellular therapy
  • People who are pre- or post- a solid organ transplant
  • People with haematological malignancies
  • People living with poorly controlled HIV infection
  • People who are planned to or are receiving disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for:
    • polymyalgia rheumatica systemic lupus erythematosus
    • rheumatoid arthritis
  • People with end stage kidney disease (CKD 4 or 5)
  • People with primary immunodeficiency

We are still working on five applications to widen access

Of the proposals we are considering, four are on our Options for Investment (OFI) list. This means our clinical advisors have provided a positive funding recommendation and it’s something we would like to fund, subject to budget availability. These are for:

We acknowledge that there are concerns regarding Māori and Pacific people experiencing inequities with health conditions like shingles, and we understand our role in supporting equitable access to medicines.

We are also assessing an application to fund Shingrix for people aged 65 years and older(external link). 

Unfortunately, Pharmac is unable to give a definitive timeframe for if, or when, funding decisions will be made as the relative priority of funding choices can change over time depending on the relative health benefits, amount of funding available, success of negotiations with suppliers, new clinical data, and the variety of other funding applications.

Background

The shingles vaccine has been funded for people aged 65 since 1 April 2018. This limited window for access was decided following the clinical advice we received that the effectiveness reduced over time.

Pharmac funded the vaccine following recommendations from the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) and the Immunisation Advisory Committee.

The brand of shingles vaccine funded in 2018 (Zostavax) provided a relatively short period of protection and it provided less protection to older people.

Zostavax was discontinued by the supplier, so we funded Shingrix from 1 December 2022 for the same eligible population.

We ran a catch up programme since the funding for the vaccine was initiated in April 2018 until December 2021.

Paying for the vaccine yourself

Anyone who isn't 65 years old can purchase the vaccine privately.

Private pricing varies between pharmacies and medical centres as they set their own charges. Pharmac has no visibility over cost and availability of unfunded medicines, so we encourage people to contact different medical centres or pharmacies to get a quote on how much the vaccine will cost.

Funding decisions are a balancing act

While it is ultimately our role to decide which medicines are publicly funded, we work with external experts when making these difficult decisions. We're guided by robust evidence and the expertise of clinicians and the health care sector, and wider public.

Hearing that you’re not eligible for a treatment is difficult. We would love to be able to fund every medicine for every condition but unfortunately that's not possible.

We empathise with all New Zealanders who are unwell and their whānau who support them. Hearing how medicines impact the lives of New Zealanders is really important in helping us understand what medicines we should be funding.

Who to contact

If you have any questions about the funding of these vaccines, email enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz