Manitoba government should cover cost of shingles vaccine, seniors advocates say

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This article was published 05/04/2025 (217 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government is being criticized for not including coverage of the shingles vaccine in its spring budget, which proponents say would benefit seniors and reduce health-care costs.

“It’s saving money,” said Connie Newman, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Communities.

“If someone gets shingles, the solution is to go to their primary health-care provider and maybe get the appropriate medication. If they get a bad dose (of medication), then they’re in emergency, and then more medication. The moment you show up at emergency with a condition like shingles, because you haven’t had the vaccine, look at the cost.”

The high price tag is a barrier to access. Each dose of Shingrix — the only approved shingles vaccine in Canada — costs about $150, and two doses are required. The vaccine is considered more than 90 per cent effective in preventing shingles in people aged 50 and older.

Seniors advocacy organization CanAge says the financial case for funding the vaccine is clear-cut.

“Every single province, and certainly Manitoba, is trying to figure out how to save its acute care, how to save its family physician care system, how to keep people out of personal care homes and emergency rooms,” CEO Laura Tamblyn Watts said.

“The small cost of a vaccine to free up all of those opportunities makes the cost-benefit analysis clear. The financial and economic argument is obvious, but there’s still this process we need to go through.”

Cindy Lamoureux, the only Liberal MLA in Manitoba, has called on the province to cover the cost of the vaccine for several years.

She raised the concern again during question period late last month after funding wasn’t announced in the provincial budget.

Lamoureux said in Canada, the average cost to the health-care system for hospitalization due to shingles is $12,000 for a two-week stay.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus responsible for chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox carries the virus for life, and about one in three Canadians will develop shingles.

That risk increases to one in two after age 65. The disease causes painful rashes and blisters and can lead to long-term complications, including vision loss and chronic nerve pain.

“I’ve had several seniors reach out to me over the years tell me that they can’t afford it,” Lamoureux said.

Since 2018, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended that all Canadians over 50 receive the shingles vaccine.

Only Ontario, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Yukon cover the full cost.

In a statement Friday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the province continues to review its approach.

“We are always working to ensure that seniors in our communities can age with dignity and have access to the care that they need,” Asagwara said.

“Our government is listening to evolving public health and clinical expertise on how best to protect Manitobans from shingles and other diseases, and we’ll continue to reassess coverage as we learn more information.”

Britt Kural, pharmacy practice adviser with Pharmacists Manitoba, said the system puts unnecessary roadblocks between patients and protection.

“If you talk to anybody that’s had shingles, they would be saying, ‘I really wish I had this vaccine’ as opposed to not paying for it or not getting it and experiencing what they went through or are going through,” she said.

“The cost is the biggest barrier that we see with this vaccine.”

In addition to wanting the province to pay for the vaccine, Kural wants pharmacists to be allowed to prescribe and administer the jab, just as they can for COVID-19 vaccines.

Currently, pharmacists in Manitoba can prescribe the shingles vaccine — but they cannot administer it. If a pharmacist prescribes Shingrix, the patient must see a doctor to receive it. If a doctor prescribes it, a pharmacist can administer it.

Kural said that policy should be changed.

A recent study has uncovered another benefit of the shingles vaccine: dementia prevention.

The Stanford University-led study showed the vaccine cut the risk of adults developing dementia over the next seven years by 20 per cent.

“It’s a very robust finding,” lead researcher Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer told The Associated Press.

The study also found that women seem to benefit more, an important development because they’re at higher risk of dementia.

“I don’t know what else we can say but how fast can we get this into our public system, and into the arms of everybody that it’s recommends it for,” Watts said.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca