Overview
- Eligibility now includes adults from 18 with risk factors such as diabetes, HIV, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, or a history of blood‑stem‑cell transplant.
- The prior threshold for risk groups was 50, and the universal recommendation for everyone 60 and older remains unchanged since 2018.
- The vaccine course consists of two doses given within a maximum interval of six months.
- Shingles results from reactivation of the varicella‑zoster virus and can disseminate in immunocompromised patients, according to the RKI.
- The revised guidance was published on 7 November in the Robert Koch Institute’s Epidemiologisches Bulletin.