Shingles vaccination programme: expansion of Shingrix® vaccine eligibility to all those who are severely immunosuppressed and aged 18 years and over
Published 22 July 2025
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22 July 2025
This letter provides information about forthcoming changes to the NHS shingles vaccination programme. This letter is aimed at teams who are responsible for commissioning and operationally delivering the national NHS shingles vaccination programme. We encourage you to share this guidance with all those involved in delivering the programme in your area.
On 1 September 2025, based on the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), eligibility for the NHSE Shingles vaccination programme will change to allow all severely immunosuppressed people aged 18 years and over to receive the shingles vaccine. This is an expansion of the current severely immunosuppressed cohort, who until now became eligible from aged 50 years of age.
Key points about the changes to the programme:
- since September 2023, Shingrix® has been available to severely immunosuppressed people (including those who are anticipating immunosuppressive therapy) aged 50 years and over with no upper age limit
- the forthcoming change from 1 September 2025 will expand the eligibility to all severely immunosuppressed people aged 18 years and over (with no upper age limit)
- severely immunosuppressed people will be offered 2 doses of the non-live shingles vaccine, Shingrix®, with the second dose given 8 weeks to 6 months after the first dose for this cohort, in line with the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)
- severely immunosuppressed individuals who have already received 2 doses of Shingrix® do not need re-vaccination
- severely immunosuppressed individuals who had received Zostavax® prior to developing immunosuppression should be offered 2 doses of Shingrix®
Information provided in the annexes of this letter:
Annexe A: detailed information and guidance for healthcare professionals
Annexe B: supporting programme resources
Colleagues are asked to ensure all those who are severely immunosuppressed and aged 18 years and over are offered both doses of the Shingrix® vaccine from 1 September 2025.
For any operational queries, please contact your NHS England Regional Public Health Commissioning Team. For clinical queries or queries about supporting programme resources, please email immunisation@ukhsa.gov.uk.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in commissioning and operationally delivering the national NHS shingles vaccination programme.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Temmink, Director of Vaccination, NHS England
Dr Mary Ramsay CBE, Director of Public Health Programmes (including immunisation) UK Health Security Agency