ICFHS researcher, Dr Jialing Lin, writes in The Conversation about shingles vaccination uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr Jialing Lin has written for The Conversation about how shingles vaccination rates changed in the United States of America before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the most effective way to prevent shingles and its complications, the vaccination rate rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rates rose more quickly among some underserved groups, such as those from racial and ethnic minority groups and those with low household income. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was disruptive, it may have inadvertently created new opportunities to improve adult vaccination uptake. Contributing factors likely included increased public awareness of the importance of vaccination and more frequent health care encounters, especially during COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. However, major inequities persist. While shingles vaccination rates improved across the board, groups that had lower uptake before the pandemic continued to lag behind others. These findings highlight the potential to incorporate vaccination equity into future public health emergency preparedness and response efforts.