I Am A 70 Year Old Female Has Spherocytosis I Am Also Concerned About A Shingles Vaccine For Myself

Posted on Fri, 11 Apr 2025

Question: I am a 70 year old female that has Spherocytosis. I'm wondering if it is safe for me to have a COVID vaccination.
I am also concerned about a Shingles vaccine for myself.
My spleen was removed and I had 4 functioning accessory spleens that were removed also. I was about 13 or 14 when the surgery was performed. Of course I had a pneumococcal shot at that time. I have had one or two more pneumococcal shots in the last 20 years but probably it is time for another. I've never taken a flu shot and I also am worried about the safety of a COVID vaccine. What are your thoughts?

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No known adversity with covid vaccine in spherocytosis

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

So far, there's no known adverse reaction to covid vaccine specifically for spherocytosis. Same for shingles vaccine.

Removal of spleen doesn't increase propensity to adverse reactions to vaccines too.

So I think you are good to go.

Hope this helps.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana