Children to Get Chickenpox Vaccine on NHS
From January next year, every young child in England and Wales will be offered the chickenpox vaccine free of charge on the NHS.
Delivered in two doses at 12 and 18 months, the jab will be combined with the existing MMR vaccine that already protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. A catch-up campaign will also ensure slightly older children do not miss out.
Until now, families wanting protection against the varicella virus, which causes the red, itchy rash of chickenpox, often had to pay privately, at a cost of up to £200.
The new programme is expected not only to prevent serious complications, such as pneumonia, encephalitis, or stroke, but also to reduce the burden on parents who lose millions of pounds in workdays each year caring for sick children.
Health experts say the vaccine will dramatically cut hospitalisations and, in rare cases, save lives. For parents like Sarah, whose two daughters needed hospital treatment after severe chickenpox, the decision comes as welcome reassurance: “I would never want any child or any parent to go through what we’ve been through.”
Chickenpox is often dismissed as a mild childhood illness, yet for babies and pregnant women, it can be extremely dangerous. By making the vaccine freely available, the government aims to protect children, reduce the spread of infection, and alleviate the suffering that this highly contagious virus can cause.
This recognises that access to essential healthcare, including life-saving vaccines, is part of every child’s right to health.
