2023-04-16 22:10:14
Quebecers aged 80 and over as well as immunosuppressed adults will be able to get vaccinated once morest shingles starting May 1, TVA Nouvelles has learned.
• Read also: Shingles, painful and capricious disease
According to the Minister for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, these two groups have been targeted because they are most at risk of suffering complications if they contract shingles. For making appointments, Quebec will copy the model of COVID vaccines.
Screenshot TVA News
“The people who are targeted will be able to make an appointment on Clic Santé and the vaccination will be done in the vaccination centers, but also at the various pharmacies”, explains Sonia Bélanger.
Screenshot TVA News
The injected vaccine is effective in 90% of cases and provides protection for 10 years. Quebec estimates that 800,000 Quebecers might benefit from vaccination.
Screenshot TVA News
“Shingles, in fact, is the chickenpox virus that has fallen asleep in our body and which reactivates and which will create damage to the skin and nerves,” explains pharmacist Gabriel Gosselin.
“Shingles as such is not dangerous, it’s more the complications that come following shingles that are bothersome. We are talking regarding post-shingles pain, so pain that can persist for weeks, months or even years,” he adds.
Screenshot TVA News
Each year in Quebec, there are 27,000 cases. 600 will require hospitalization, 10 people will die and 80% of cases are people aged 80 and over. In 2018, it was estimated that shingles cost the health network an average of $25 million per year.
Screenshot TVA News
This first phase of vaccination will cost $40 million, from the $125 million envelope announced in the last provincial budget.
To see the full report, watch the video above
1681697152
#Beginning #shingles #vaccination
