PEOPLE in Scotland aged 70 will be entitled, from today, to a vaccination against shingles.

The catch-up programme to guard against the painful condition, related to chickenpox, will also be offered to all 79-year-olds in the first phase of innoculating all those in their 70s over the coming years.

Shingles flairs up each year in around 7000 older people, whose immune system is weakened. When people recover from chickenpox, most of the virus is destroyed but some lies inactive in the nervous system.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said: "Shingles is a debilitating condition that is more likely to affect people, and to be more severe, as they grow older.

"For older people, shingles can be a significant cause of illness and pain, with many people developing a very painful and long-lasting condition, post herpetic neuralgia, which is why we are offering a new vaccination programme.

"The new vaccine could prevent many people from getting shingles and reduce the number of people hospitalised each year.

"Once you've had shingles there's a chance you could get it again, and this vaccine will also reduce the risk of this happening."