Shingles is more common in older adults. If you were aged 70 to 79 on 1 September 2018, protect yourself from the pain of shingles by getting the vaccine.
What is shingles?
Shingles is caused by a virus called varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox.
It causes pain, followed by a rash that develops into itchy blisters, similar in appearance to chickenpox.
Shingles is more common in older people. Around 1 in every 4 people will have at least one episode of shingles during their life.
More about shingles
Protecting yourself against shingles
A vaccine's routinely offered in Scotland to protect against shingles.
The vaccine:
- helps to protect you by boosting your immunity
- reduces your risk of getting shingles
- makes symptoms milder if you do get shingles
It's given as a one-off injection at your GP practice.
More about the shingles vaccine
Eligibility
If you were aged 70 to 79 on 1 September 2018, you're eligible for the free shingles vaccine.
If you're eligible, you can get the vaccine at your GP practice any time during the year. Phone your GP to make an appointment to get your vaccine.
Some people can’t have the shingles vaccine, your GP or practice nurse will check that you can have the vaccine.
Campaign resources
To help promote the shingles vaccine to eligible people, a range of resources have been developed to support the national campaign.
These are also available in different languages and formats.
Leaflet
Protect yourself from the pain of shingles – English version (PDF, 746KB)
Protect yourself from the pain of shingles – Polish version (PDF, 4.56MB)
Protect yourself from the pain of shingles – Traditional Chinese version (PDF, 988KB)
Protect yourself from the pain of shingles – Urdu version (PDF, 4.69MB)
Protect yourself from the pain of shingles – Easy read version (PDF, 4.85MB)
Screensaver
Shingles screensaver (JPEG 1.9MB) – for practice screens