Getting two shots of the shingles vaccine doesn’t seem to increase or decrease your risk of getting dementia — and any link people thought they saw was probably just a fluke in how data was collected, not because the vaccine actually affects the brain.

Getting two shots of the shingles vaccine might help lower your risk of getting dementia, no matter your age, race, or whether dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s or blood vessel problems.

People who got two shots of the shingles vaccine were about half as likely to develop dementia later on, no matter how old they were or what race or ethnicity they belonged to.

People 65 and older who got two shots of the shingles vaccine were about half as likely to be diagnosed with dementia later on, compared to those who didn’t get the vaccine — but this doesn’t prove the vaccine prevents dementia, just that the two are linked.

People who got two shots of the shingles vaccine were less likely to develop dementia later on—even when researchers checked for things like the pandemic or how dementia was diagnosed—so it might actually help protect your brain.

Older adults who got two shots of the shingles vaccine had less than half the rate of dementia compared to those who didn’t get the vaccine—so the shingles shot might be linked to a lower risk of memory problems.