CAMP HILL, Pa. — Responding to reports that the shingles vaccine is in short supply and on back-order for health care providers nationwide, Rite Aid Corp. announced that nearly 1,900 of its pharmacies have the vaccine in stock.
The drug store chain said Friday that it has an "ample supply" of the shingles vaccine in most of the states where it operates and that pharmacists can administer it to walk-in patients age 60 and older. Patients wishing to get vaccinated against shingles can enter their ZIP code at www.riteaid.com/shingles to find the most convenient Rite Aid location.
According to Rite Aid, its pharmacists can vaccinate against shingles in 27 of the 31 states where its stores are located, including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The drug chain, which has over 4,700 stores overall, added that it also holds periodic clinics for shingles vaccinations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and West Virginia.
A painful nerve disease, shingles (herpes zoster) each year afflicts 1 million U.S. adults — half of them older than 60 — and can leave them bed-ridden with pain for weeks, months or even years, Rite Aid said.
The shingles vaccine, Zostavax, is made by Merck. A recent flurry of published reports said the immunization faces a supply shortage, about a month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that most people age 60 and older get immunized for shingles.
Earlier this week, food and drug retailer Supervalu Inc. assured customers that the shingles vaccine remains available at its pharmacies.
