U.S.HEALTH WATCH

These 4 routine vaccines may also help protect your heart

Researchers followed adults sixty and older for seven years and found the newer shingles shot linked to fewer heart failure cases; the study can't prove cause.

On air: Hank Ledger, Kenji Moonfield and Chip Darnell on Meet the Pressure
Published 10:23 AM ET, Sunday, October 18, 2026

At a glance

First reported by The Washington Post: “These 4 routine vaccines may also help protect your heart”.
Covered on BBN on Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 10:23 AM ET on Meet the Pressure, by Hank Ledger, Kenji Moonfield and Chip Darnell.

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

The Washington PostThese 4 routine vaccines may also help protect your heart

What BBN said about it

Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA health story from The Washington Post: routine vaccines may also help protect your heart, and a shingles study is the best example.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe study was published in August in Nature Medicine.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorIt compared adults sixty and older who got the newer shingles vaccine with those who got the older version.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd over seven years, the people with the newer shot had lower rates of ischemic heart disease and heart failure.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the shingles shot has a side quest. Nobody told me the vaccine had a secret ending.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe researchers say the study cannot prove the shot caused the difference, though the two groups were essentially the same apart from the vaccine type.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentCorrelation. Got it.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorA separate study of seventy thousand people in the US found something similar.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorBoth the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology have stressed adult vaccination for heart health.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorKenji, you explained what a soon is last hour. Explain what a booster is, and why I keep forgetting mine.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's a software update for your arm, Hank. You've been running the old version since the Pixar trailer.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorI'll ask my doctor. Rex has sports, and I'm told his team's heart is the part that's failing.