  In this work we study the Higgs mechanism and the Debye shielding for the
Bopp-Podolsky theory of electrodynamics. We find that not only the massless
sector of the Podolsky theory acquires a mass in both these phenomena, but also
that its massive sector has its mass changed. Furthermore, we find a
mathematical analogy in the way these masses change between these two
mechanisms. Besides exploring the behaviour of the screened potentials, we find
a temperature for which the presence of the generalized gauge field may be
experimentally detected.
