This shingle vaccine will rock you!

If you live in America, you probably have seen, a few years ago, some gruesome ads depicting someone suffering from shingles, that were downright scary.

The advertised vaccine was, I believe, for Zostavax. Along with our physician’s recommendations, that ad has some effect on us, since we got vaccinated in July of 2014. The shots were just normal, painless and we soon forgot about them.

That was until our good family doctor revisited the issue, telling us last year, that our immunization would only be 65% effective and that a “new and improved” vaccine called Shingrix, said to be 97% effective, would be a good idea to replace our limited protection.

Gullible, we said “yes”, and ordered the new vaccine that, in short supply, had been quite difficult to get, making it even more desirable. Our pharmacy finally received it mid-April and we got our shots. After the injection, my wife suffered from terrible pain in the arm while I was nauseated and feeling flue-like symptoms all over my body.

The torture lasted the day following the procedure. This week, we were summoned to receive our booster shots. Filled with apprehension, we got there on Wednesday and at first everything seemed to be alright.

That was until the night that followed the injection and the next morning, when we found that we were close to dying. Same terrible symptoms for an expensive series of shots that were not even covered by our insurance. We eventually survived but wondered if that suffering was worth the alleged protection.

We’re not convinced yet and will probably never know...