The “connection “ is that many things, including vaccinations, generate inflammation, which, in turn, can provoke a GD outbreak. Please don’t encourage people to forgo the shingles vaccine. Shingles can be an extraordinarily painful, debilitating disease. If it manifests on the face, it can involve the eye and can permanently damage vision, even cause blindness. It often is followed by post-herpetic neuralgia, resulting in years more of pain.