What Vaccinations Should I Be Getting If I Am Over 65?

Wow, do you receive funding from the crooked CDC? Check with funeral directors, and they'll tell you how many dead had recently received a USELESS flu vaccine. You don't get wellness from injecting toxins. Mercury and many of the ingredients are known to stay in the brain, leading to Alzheimers, Parkinson's, and RA. No, you don't need to publish this, but you immediately lost all credibility here.

Thank you for reminding those who have not yet gotten their vaccinations as we head into the winter months and flu season. The flu shot is quick, painless and necessary. But you may need to get your name on a waiting list for the new shingles vaccine Shingrix. My pharmacist recommended getting on more than one waiting list as it is in short supply and can take months to get. Even though I had a shingles shot 2 years ago, this new vaccine is more effective as this article states, and my doctor highly recommended I get it.

I have been going to my local pharmacy for a month now and they still don't have the new Shingle shots in stock yet. We also had the older version of Shingle shot and our doctor also recommended the new Shingrix shots. I did not realize it was a two shot regimen.

Donna, many people share your fear of immunizations. However, here's a consequence of what can happen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/19/anti-vaccination-stronghold-nc-hit-with-states-worst-chickenpox-outbreak-decades/

Donna, Wasting a foolish post for the millions and millions of us who have avoided severe illness by receiving appropriate vaccinations year after year. Ken's article highlights the results of such foolishness here in NC. Children at risk due to irresponsible parents.

I never even thought about the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine and neither my wife or I knew when we had last been vaccinated against it. But months before our first grandchild was born our daughter called to tell us the hospital wanted us to bring proof of our vaccination if we wanted admitted to the maternity ward. Of course we were vaccinated immediately and it was an easy and good request. Nothing sadder than seeing a sick baby.

Louise - I am in the same boat. ( I swear we are sisters lol). Both my doctor and one of my kids (a clinical pharmacist) have been encouraging me to get the new shingles shot, even though I got the “old” one when I turned 60 My kid told me that it was discovered that the effectiveness of the older version of the vaccine wears off. It can be difficult to find a pharmacy with the new vaccine in stock though.

Donna, I agree. Let's bring back small pox and polio and just die in our thirties as God intended. Or be eaten by wolves...

More than 20 years ago, while teaching middle school, I developed a horrible cough and felt terrible. It took 2 different doctors and 3 weeks for them to diagnose whooping cough because it hadn’t been seen in our rural county in years. Unvaccinated kids spread it to our area. And yes, I was vaccinated as a child but at 40+, my immunity had worn off.

I just got over shingles and it was horrible. Nobody had ever told me to get the vaccine. It was very painful with water blisters on half of my body. I now have to wait a year to get the vaccine. Get the vaccine if you can!

People have become apathetic towards immunizations due to the fact that they have never seen a warehouse full off sick people and dead people being carted off in wagons for mass burials. These things were real in 'the olden days'. Read about the 1918 flu epidemic that occurred 100 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

I have friends who won't get flu shot and it is just nuts. If they get it, they have the potential to make everyone around them sick. Flu is deadly. An epidemic can happen in any year.

Kate, the Shingrix shot should be available soon! We just need to keep trying to find it!

Maimi, sorry to hear you had Shingles. A friend of mine had it years ago and he said it war horrible.

I know there are lots of Americans who do not believe in science, think the world is flat, and that diseases are due to the curse of the gods. That is why we are seeing the return of measles, mumps, chicken pox, and now a polio like virus is sweeping the USA. As my retirement job, I taught in an inner city school for a few years. It wzs a gateway city, and immigrants arrived daily, mostly from Central America. None of these kids had been vaccinated, but the schools no longer require it because with the flood of new students, it isn’t feasible.

Medical Professionals must be vaccinated whether they like it or not .Before I got a flu shot, I nearly died from the flu which I got on a trip to NYC in March of 1993. One day after getting home I had a slight tickle in my throat at work, which was in a medical office. The next day, I had a huge cough, and a 104 degree temperature-it was that quick. Because I was in the office the day after I got home from my trip, I had infected the staff including my Aunt who was the wife of the doctor (my uncle, the owner of the practice). It was a mess, we all had to take turns being home and being at the office. When I returned back at my job, I felt like I was in a fog and that everything was in slow motion. I lost nearly 15 lbs and had the cough until August of that year. I was very ill and had a recurrence in May. I am not sure if getting the flu shot that year would have helped--it was not enforced at that time. I do know that I never want that experience again.

Jennifer, very well stated! When most of us get the flu, it may be a mild form that we get through in a week or so. We think of the immunization as helping to avoid that rather minor case. Reality is that it could help us passed your situation -- even if we still get a lower level version. Getting immunized actally helps protect against possibly months of unpleasant illness, complications involving worse diseases -- and potentially death. Our minds tend to reject those possibilities, but they exist.

A dear friend of mine contracted the flu last March and died. She was 75 and had not gotten a flu shot. She didn’t believe in them. In her case the symptoms began and she died at home within a few days. She, and her doctor, didn’t realize she should have been in the hospital. Don’t take a chance. Get the flu shot and seek medical care if you start to notice symptoms of the flu. You may need to be in the hospital. If you’re 65 or over, you’ll receive a stronger dosage vaccine.

Although I received the older version of the Shingles shot in 2011 I came down with Shingles in July 2018. I was fortunate to be near the University of Florida Hospital at the time and received excellent treatment. My lesions were on my cornea and I was in danger of losing my eye. A very aggressive course of treatment over 2 months got everything under control. As of this date I continue to deal with some minor issues but my vision is fine. My advice: Get the new shot!

If you read the Shingrex shot ingredients , it says there is no mercury in the shot.

I wonder if doing a brief article on the availability of Shingrix might be of interest to your readers? Possibly ask for suggestions as to where it is available. The vaccine shortage appears to be nationwide but it might be of interest to people that places like Winn-Dixie (!) could be a resource. I also wonder why the shortage has persisted so long…we’ve been trying to get the second dose since last August.

Editor's note: Thanks Pat! We mentioned Shingrix but not about the shortage. Seems like everybody we know is trying to find out where to get the shots (2 required w/i 6 months. On our way right now to Winn-Dixie, which says it has availability of Dose 1. Anyone else have good ideas on where to get it? Let us know in the Comments section below.

Comments:
Shingrix: We got our second shot at a Winn-Dixie pharmacy in Key West, Florida. Our arms were "slightly" sore, like a bruise, and we did have vague body aches but those were the only side effects. Very mild. We were told that the old shingles vaccine was not that effective but that Shingrix is 97% effective. Trust me, you don't want to have shingles.

Flu vaccine: Get it! My husband had a nasty Type A influenza two years ago. When he was admitted to the hospital,the doctors told me that he was critically ill and that only 50% of patients in his condition survive the illness! That was a shocker because it happened so fast. He was hospitalized for 7 days. He too lost a lot of weight and it took him many weeks to recover. The doctor also told me that because he had the pneumonia vaccine, he had a fighting chance. Thank goodness this was true.

This issue is in the news. Here is an excellent NPR article that explains why you need the Shingrix vaccine and what you can do about the shortage. Shingrix Vaccine Scramble: How to Cope

I went back to the neighborhood pharmacy today to see how the waiting list was going for Shingrix but they said they still have not gotten any in. The link from the comment above from Admin was interesting in pointing out there is a real demand and just have to be patient. I then went to the grocery store where I hadn't considered ever getting a vaccination of any kind, and the pharmacist there explained they still don't have any and only get 60 doses a month, but said I should put my name on every pharmacy waiting list in town, which I hadn't considered. She also pointed out they were offering $10 gift cards if you got your flu shot there and $15 for pneumonia vaccine- wish I would have gone here first.

Jemmie, over the past weekend I took an elderly neighbor (95) to a nearby Safeway pharmacy in Georgetown for her second Shingles vaccine. They called her when it arrived and I took her in the next morning. It took all of ten minutes and I got a bit of shopping in while it was being administered by the pharmacist. The only side effect she had was a sore arm the next day. It was a great solution for her.

Finally got both Shingrix shots this year. Took forever for the pharmacy to get them but we got on their waiting list. They finally called when the first one was available and had a clinic and we needed to make an appointment. All went well and we made another appointment for the second shot and now that is done. We went to the same pharmacy about the second week of October (2019) to get the high potency flu shot for those 65 and over. There is a shortage on those shots too! I called all the pharmacies in the area and it was the same story for weeks. It dawned on me that our local VNA has had flu clinics in the past and Thursday I went on line and sure enough, they have been having a clinic every Friday during the month of October and continues into November. It was easy! No appointment! We walked in, filled out a form and got the shot! Medicare pays for it. No waiting and the VNA is about a mile and a half from my house! If I had known, I would have gone there and not gotten aggravated trying to find the shot! So, if any of you are having a hard time finding the shot, try your local VNA.

I was speaking to the nurse and telling her about a person I know that refuses to get the flu shot and we were talking about the epidemic in 1918 where the flu killed millions of people. She told us that the VNA was established in 1918 due to the flue epidemic. I didn't know that!

A cautionary update on the shingles vaccine. My wife got her yearly flu vaccine recently and, since she is 56, they asked her if she wanted her first dose of the shingles shot. We had previously discussed it, and we had a couple friends that had dealt with shingles and we agreed we would get the shots. She got a flu shot and the first shingles shot. She experienced a lot of pain in the injection site that evening. She went to bed and she began to shiver/shake pretty significantly for most of the night. She said she never felt cold, but could not stop shivering. We looked up the side-effects from the shingles vaccine and yep - shivering/shaking was one. It took about three days for her to be completely back to normal. She will still get the second dose, but please be aware that the shingles vaccine is considered a very strong vaccine and some will have side effects. Still better than a raging case of shingles, but be advised it may cause some challenges for a couple days.

When we got our Shingles shots we were told by the pharmacist, who gave us the shots, that we could experience flu like symptoms and a very sore arm. Husband and I both had sore arms but no flu symptoms with either of the shots. If you still work take that into consideration and perhaps get the shot on a Friday in case you get sick.

Dear all:

Consider getting the shots on separate visits. Do not take the Shingles shot and the flu shot on the same day. The possible side effects from one any shot at a time, although minimal, should be considered for sensitive individuals and those with compromised immune systems as well as thin or fragile elderly persons. Consider your medical history and YOU make the decision. I used to give flu vaccinations as a nurse and we never gave the shingles shot on the same day or week as the flu shot to our patients. This can reduce or minimize side effects.

FWIW, the drug store where I get my vacs only recommends 1 every 30 days. Flu, DPT, shingles, whatever.

Regarding the Shingrix vaccine: I have had both shots ( roughly two months apart) and found that I reacted to them with achey joints and a low grade fever but within about 1.5 days I was fine. The injection (in both cases) was given very high up on my arm and within 24 hours I had a large, raised, round red spot about two inches in diameter that remained for several days, as well as a sore arm. However I had had the old shingles vaccine roughly five years prior to the Shingrix vaccine. And at the tail end of that five year window, I did get shingles. In my case was very mild but it began with the nerve in my inner ear and I was fortunate to catch it early. I was given an antiviral medication and it was completely gone in a week. While the vaccine is expensive and many insurances do not cover it, I think if you are not covered by your health plan and can afford the fee, it is worth the cost. Shingles can be very unpleasant and quite painful.