Was shingles a side effect of covid vaccines?

The short version: the evidence shows a real but modest increase in shingles after COVID-19 vaccination, especially in people with weaker immune systems, but the absolute risk is small for most healthy adults.

The largest study here, a 2025 UK population-based cohort of over 16 million adults, found that monthly shingles rates reversed from a pre-vaccine decline of about 4.4 cases per month to a post-vaccine increase of about 5.2 cases per month [1]. That is a clear signal. But the study had no unvaccinated control group, so it cannot separate vaccine effects from pandemic effects like stress or COVID-19 infection itself [1]. The authors call the increase "modest" and say it warrants follow-up.

A 2023 meta-analysis of case reports found shingles occurred in about 0.1% of people within 28 days of vaccination, or about 1 in 1,000 [20]. That is low, but not zero. In cancer patients getting a third mRNA dose, a 2024 prospective study found a cumulative shingles incidence of 2.6%, with onset a median of 15 days after the shot [4]. Those patients had impaired T-cell counts, which fits the mechanism: the vaccine's strong immune stimulation can temporarily distract or exhaust the immune system, letting latent varicella zoster virus reactivate.

The table below shows the key numbers from the strongest studies:

The 2023 meta-analysis also found that the shingles rate after the first dose of CoronaVac was 0.4% and after the second dose 0.5%, while after the first dose of BioNTech it was 4.4% [20]. That difference by vaccine type is worth noting, though the numbers come from different studies with different populations.

My call: COVID-19 vaccination does increase the risk of shingles, especially in people with weakened immune systems, but the absolute risk for a healthy adult is small, around 1 in 1,000. The evidence is moderate for the existence of the link, but weak on the exact size because most studies lack a true unvaccinated comparison group.