Free Shingles Vaccine Clinic

Greene County residents age 60 and older can receive a free Shingles vaccine from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department at three Springfield-Greene County Libraries in May and June.

· Tuesday, May 16, 9 a.m.-noon, Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave., Room B

· Tuesday, May 23, 9 a.m.-noon, Library Station, 2535 N. Kansas Expressway, Stagecoach Room

· Tuesday, May 30, 9 a.m.-noon, Schwetizer Brentwood Branch, 2214 Brentwood Blvd., community room

· Thursday, June 15, 9 a.m.-noon, Library Station, 2535 N. Kansas Expressway, Santa Fe Room.

You must pre-register to set an appointment by calling 417-864-1684.

The vaccine is given as a two-dose series. Participants will get instructions on the day of their first dose about when to get the second dose.

According to the CDC, the “Recombinant zoster vaccine” can prevent shingles, a painful skin rash, usually with blisters. It can also cause fever, headache, chills or upset stomach. More rarely, shingles can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation or death. The most common complication of shingles is long-term nerve pain even after the rash clears.

Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same one that causes chickenpox. After you’ve had chickenpox, the virus stays in your body and can cause shingles later in life. It cannot be passed from one person to another, but the virus that causes shingles can spread and cause chickenpox in someone who has never had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine.