The Bartholomew County Health Department and some local pharmacies have run out of the shingles vaccine Shingrix.
The shortage is believed to be linked to a nationwide shortage, local health officials said.
“We’re still waiting on our order,” said Amanda Organist, Bartholomew County Health Department director of nursing. “It should be in within the next couple shipments.”
Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful skin rash and blisters, typically around the torso, that can last for three to five weeks. Health officials say it is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After an individual has the chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near a person’s spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
