Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend NHS eligibility for the Shingrix shingles vaccine to older adults who previously received Zostavax.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent departmental expert committee which advises the Government on matters related to vaccination and immunisation.

In November 2024, the JCVI provided advice to the Government on eligibility for the shingles vaccination programme. This included advice that the Government should consider expanding the shingles vaccination offer to include older adult cohorts aged 80 years old and over, regardless of whether these older individuals have previously been eligible for, or have been vaccinated with, Zostavax. The Department is carefully considering this advice as it sets the policy on who should be offered shingles vaccinations.