For older Ohioans, there鈥檚 some good and some bad news. A new shingles vaccine is markedly better than previous options, but the drugmaker is having a hard time keeping up with demand.
About a third of Americans will develop 鈥攁 painful rash from the same virus that causes chickenpox鈥攁nd the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone over 50 get the vaccine.
GlaxoSmithKline鈥檚 Shingrix is about 90 percent effective, but Franklin County medical director Dr. Miller Sullivan says it鈥檚 hard to come by.
鈥淭his is a very good vaccine,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 supposed to be better than the previous vaccine, and as a result there鈥檚 been high demand for it. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has not been able to keep up completely with demand. So it is available but it鈥檚 often delayed.鈥�
Part of the issue could be dosing鈥攑atients need two over the course of a few months.
鈥淪ince we have to give two, there鈥檚 like twice the demand,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淔ortunately, even though there鈥檚 a recommended interval between two and six months after the first dose, if you can鈥檛 get it in that time frame you can still get it later on and don鈥檛 have to start it over again. So yes, it has added to the demand and the shortage.鈥�
Sullivan also notes the vaccine鈥檚 effectiveness doesn鈥檛 appear to lag with a patient鈥檚 age, and it appears to remain active longer than existing treatments.
Despite shortages GlaxoSmithKline officials say more than 3 million doses have already been administered, and even though Shingrix hit the market in June they still expect to vaccinate more people this year than in all of 2017.
