From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The zoster vaccine (trade name Zostavax) is a live vaccine developed by Merck & Co. that has been shown to reduce the incidence of herpes zoster (known as shingles) by 51.3% in a study of 38,000 adults aged 60 and older who received the vaccine.he zoster vaccine was approved and licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2006. The FDA originally recommended it only for individuals 60 years of age or older who met the following requirements: