Following the recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI), NHS England has received a formal policy decision from DHSC to implement changes to the NHS Shingles Vaccination Programme from 1 September 2023.

The agreed changes, which were set out in the Commissioning Intentions 2023/24 and included in the 2023/24 GP Contract, are:

• replacement of Zostavax with the 2-dose Shingrix vaccine across the entire shingles vaccination programme.
• expansion of the immunocompromised cohort to offer Shingrix to individuals aged 50 years and over, with no upper age limit and a period between doses of 8 weeks and 6 months.
• expansion of the immunocompetent cohort to offer Shingrix routinely to individuals aged 60 years and over, remaining an opportunistic offer up to and including 79 years of age, with a period between doses of 6 months and 12 months.

Please note that the GP contract letter refers to the gap between doses in weeks and not months at the upper end in error.

The expansion of the immunocompetent cohort will be implemented over two five-year stages as follows:

• First five-year stage (1 September 2023 to 31 August 2028): Shingrix will be offered to those turning 70 and those turning 65 years of age in each of the five years as they become eligible.
• Second five-year stage (1 September 2028 to 31 August 2033): Shingrix will be offered to those turning 65 and those turning 60 years of age in each of the five years as they become eligible.

Any Zostavax remaining in the system after 1 September 2023 should be offered to anyone aged 70 to 79 years of age that was eligible before this implementation date. Once all stocks of Zostavax are exhausted, these individuals can be offered Shingrix if they have not been given a shingles vaccine.

General practice call/recall for the immunocompromised and immunocompetent cohorts, as they become eligible for the programme, will be implemented from 1 September 2023, as well as catch-up call/recall for the newly eligible immunocompromised 50-69-year-old cohort.

Further information on the programme changes and management of the immunocompetent cohort expansion will be provided in due course.

For further information, please contact the Vaccination and Screening Team (england.midseastphcontracts@nhs.net)