The incidence of shingles in people who have been COVID-19 vaccinated is no higher than the incidence of shingles in people who have not been vaccinated. About 25% to 33% of people will develop shingles at some point in their lifetime; it would be quite noticeable if this were being exceeded in people who received COVID-19 vaccination.
The reason it's expert opinion is that there are no data showing an uptick in shingles cases in vaccinated people, and it's hard to link to nothing.
There is some theoretical basis for the idea that an immune insult can lead to shingles reactivation. I have seen people suggest that COVID-19 itself can predispose a person to shingles reactivation also, a possibility that I consider more likely (but also have not seen any evidence to support) because an actual infection can have extremely disruptive systemic immune effects.
All of this having been said, there is a vaccine for shingles and it is now widely available for appropriate age groups. If you're in one of the appropriate age groups, it might be a good idea to seek out that vaccine.
John, Thanks for your reply. I know all of this is anecdotal, but my brother (64 years old) has a roaring case of shingles about 3 weeks post J&J vaccine. One of my other brothers found some reports from Israel about this too. Again, I appreciate that you took the time to look into this (and so quickly). Best Regards, Chris
I'm happy to help. I hope your brother's shingles case resolves well and soon. I also have a close relative who had a shingles reactivation this year, and it's NEVER a pleasant experience.
My feeling is that most of these cases can be linked back to the tremendous stress of living during a global catastrophe. I hope that when your brother's reactivation resolves, he is able to get access to the shingles vaccine so that he never has to have this awful experience again. All the best to you and your family.
I will say he has undergone a lot of additional stress over the last year. Our mother recently passed (NOT from covid, though) and he is about to retire from his career as a teacher. He has a lot of life changes going on.
I'm so sorry to hear that; my deepest condolences would surely not be enough, but nonetheless...
Anyway, I think that the stress of those events combined with the overall world situation and difficulties of living in this crisis could be big drivers of shingles reactivation. It can be very stress-sensitive, and that is well established.
Thought you might want to know: Gorski linked back to you again:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/christian-elliots-18-reasons-i-wont-be-getting-a-covid-vaccine-viral-antivaccine-misinformation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=christian-elliots-18-reasons-i-wont-be-getting-a-covid-vaccine-viral-antivaccine-misinformation
Oh cool! Thanks for the heads up.
John,
I would very much appreciate it if you could comment on outbreaks of shingles that are occurring in persons who have been COVID-19 vaccinated.
The incidence of shingles in people who have been COVID-19 vaccinated is no higher than the incidence of shingles in people who have not been vaccinated. About 25% to 33% of people will develop shingles at some point in their lifetime; it would be quite noticeable if this were being exceeded in people who received COVID-19 vaccination.
You can read more expert opinion on this in this article: https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210209/experts-debunk-covid-19-vaccine-shingles-link
And there's a little more here as well: https://www.weny.com/story/43623043/chances-of-getting-shingles-after-covid-19-vaccine-doctor-debunks-rumor
The reason it's expert opinion is that there are no data showing an uptick in shingles cases in vaccinated people, and it's hard to link to nothing.
There is some theoretical basis for the idea that an immune insult can lead to shingles reactivation. I have seen people suggest that COVID-19 itself can predispose a person to shingles reactivation also, a possibility that I consider more likely (but also have not seen any evidence to support) because an actual infection can have extremely disruptive systemic immune effects.
All of this having been said, there is a vaccine for shingles and it is now widely available for appropriate age groups. If you're in one of the appropriate age groups, it might be a good idea to seek out that vaccine.
John, Thanks for your reply. I know all of this is anecdotal, but my brother (64 years old) has a roaring case of shingles about 3 weeks post J&J vaccine. One of my other brothers found some reports from Israel about this too. Again, I appreciate that you took the time to look into this (and so quickly). Best Regards, Chris
I'm happy to help. I hope your brother's shingles case resolves well and soon. I also have a close relative who had a shingles reactivation this year, and it's NEVER a pleasant experience.
My feeling is that most of these cases can be linked back to the tremendous stress of living during a global catastrophe. I hope that when your brother's reactivation resolves, he is able to get access to the shingles vaccine so that he never has to have this awful experience again. All the best to you and your family.
I will say he has undergone a lot of additional stress over the last year. Our mother recently passed (NOT from covid, though) and he is about to retire from his career as a teacher. He has a lot of life changes going on.
I'm so sorry to hear that; my deepest condolences would surely not be enough, but nonetheless...
Anyway, I think that the stress of those events combined with the overall world situation and difficulties of living in this crisis could be big drivers of shingles reactivation. It can be very stress-sensitive, and that is well established.