de Boer and colleagues present a cost-effectiveness analysis based in the 
Netherlands of two vaccines available for the prevention of herpes zoster. 
Zostavax® was the first vaccine available for the prevention of herpes zoster in 
older adults. A live-attenuated vaccine, Zostavax is not free of limitations, 
which include a relatively low efficacy that wanes over time and its 
contraindication among immunocompromised individuals. The recently available 
adjuvanted herpes zoster subunit vaccine Shingrix® overcomes some of these 
limitations. The herpes zoster subunit vaccine is more efficacious than 
Zostavax, and it can be administered to immunosuppressed individuals. However, 
the herpes zoster subunit vaccine is considerably costlier and requires a 
booster injection. In order to clarify the value of each vaccine, de Boer and 
colleagues compare the cost-effectiveness of no vaccination, and of vaccination 
with Zostavax or the herpes zoster subunit vaccine in four cohorts of older 
adults from the perspective of the Netherlands. Whereas neither vaccine was 
cost-effective under the willingness-to-pay threshold of €20,000 per 
quality-adjusted life year, the authors find the herpes zoster subunit vaccine 
to be cost-effective in some scenarios under a €50,000 per quality-adjusted life 
year threshold.Please see related article: 
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1213-5.