Greene County residents age 60 and older can receive a free Shingles vaccine from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department at two public libraries in Sept.

• Friday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m.-noon in the Santa Fe Room of the Library Station, 2535 N. Kanas Expressway
• Tuesday, Sept. 28, 9 .m.-noon in meeting room A at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave.

Additional Clinics are Scheduled as follows…
• Tuesday, Oct. 5, 9 a.m.-noon, Republic Branch Library, 921 N. Lindsey Ave.
• Tuesday, Oct. 12, 9:30 a.m.-XXX, Strafford Branch Library, 101 S. Highway 125
• Tuesday, Oct. 26, 9:30 a.m.-XXX, Willard Branch Library, 304 E. Jackson St.
• Tuesday, Nov. 9, 9 a.m.-noon, Schweitzer Brentwood Branch Library, 2214 Brentwood Blvd.

Seating is limited to the first 20 people. You must pre-register by calling Community Health Advocate Kathaleen Shannon at 417-324-1962.

The vaccine is recommended for adults without serious immune problems. It is given as a two-dose series. Participants will get instructions that day about when and where 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 cause 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 had never had had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine.

For more information about shingles and the vaccine, contact Peggy Welte, Springfield-Greene County Health Department immunization nurse, 417-864-1432, or email peggy.welte@springfieldmo.gov.