A new shingles vaccine hit the shelves in January, promising to prevent the painful infection by up to 97 per cent. The only catch: it comes at a steep price of around $300.
Shingrix is sold in two shots priced at around $150 each. It can be administered either at the pharmacy, if the pharmacist is licensed to do injections, or it can be administered by a doctor.
Even though the vaccine is expensive, one local said she didn’t care as long as it worked.
“If the vaccine would help, I would say absolutely get the vaccine. Even if it’s over $200, it’s absolutely worth it. (Shingles) was the most excruciating, painful thing,” she said.
In 2016 Dawn Lemire discovered a painful rash on her torso. She said at first she thought it was caused by her clothing.
“It was terrible,” she said. “By the end of the day it was clear. I had this really big raised rash so I went to the doctor.”
At only 36 years old Lemire said she was startled when she was told she had shingles. The rash only lasted two weeks but the pain remained for about a month. She describes it like holding a hot wire to her skin.
“It felt raw, you’d get these zaps of pain. I would be laying in bed because I couldn’t wear clothes, and even when I would roll over and the sheet would touch me it was just excruciating,” she said. “It’s like this really weird nerve pain.”
Around one-third of people who have had chicken pox will develop shingles later in life. The virus remains in the body after the individual has recovered from chicken pox, and can be reactivated later in life.
The virus typically reactivates when the individual has a weakened immune system caused by another health problem. Those who are over 50 years old are most susceptible to getting the infection.
Dave Granoski, pharmacist at St. Albert PharmaChoice Pharmacy, said the rash isn’t the worst part about shingles, it’s the pain that comes with it.
“It can be a very debilitating disease, some people miss months of work,” he said.
There are only two vaccines available to prevent the infection. Zostavax, another shingles vaccine, is priced $210 to $223 and is administered only once.
Granoski said he prefers Shingrix due to its effectiveness.
GlaxoSmithKline, the drugmaker behind Shingrix, funded studies that showed the vaccine reduced the likelihood of developing shingles by 97 per cent in healthy adults between 50-59 years old. Another study completed by Clinical Infectious Diseases (CID) showed Zostavax only prevented shingles by 70 per cent.
Likewise, for healthy adults between 60-69 years old Shingrix prevented shingles by 97 per cent, according to the study funded by the drugmaker. Comparatively, Zostavax has a 64 per cent preventative rate, the study by CID showed.
Shingrix prevented shingles by 91 per cent for those 70 and over, the study showed. Zostavax was only 41 per cent effective for people 70-79 years old and only 18 per cent effective for people over 80 years old according to the CID study.
The new vaccine was created with DNA technology containing an immune-boosting substance. It doesn’t contain any of the live virus, unlike Zostavax, making it safe for people who are immune-compromised.
“If you’re going to pay for a product like that out of pocket, you may as well get something that’s going to work for you and do the job,” Granoski said.
He added that efficacy rates are fantastic, but time will tell whether Shingrix holds up to its clinical trials.
“The vaccines haven’t been around long enough so they don’t have any long-term data on them,” he said.
Rob Gereghty, communications liaison with Alberta Health, said in an email that Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is currently reviewing Shingrix.
He said vaccines in Alberta need to go through an “evidence-based process to determine if they are effective and affordable” before being funded by the government.
“Alberta Health will review the NACI’s recommendations on Shingrix (when available), when considering whether to offer the vaccine as part of the provincially-funded program.”
Currently only Ontario offers Zostavax free of charge for those 65-70 years old. No date has been released on when NACI will complete its review on Shingrix, so people are left paying out of pocket for now.
