The claim that the chickenpox vaccine “caused shingles epidemics” is a resurrection of an old immune-boosting hypothesis that was modeled, debated, and then tested against decades of real-world data. Shingles rates were rising before vaccination, have risen in countries without universal varicella programs, and track far more cleanly with aging populations than with pediatric immunization schedules. Meanwhile, childhood hospitalizations and deaths from varicella collapsed after vaccination. That is not a trade of one plague for another; it is disease prevention working exactly as intended.