NHS Told To Give Toddlers Chickenpox Vaccines

The National Health Service has been told that all children between 12 and 18 months old should be given a chickenpox vaccine combined with the MMR jab as one shot.

It will now be up to the government to decide whether to add it to the routine immunisations children in the UK are offered.

BBC reports: Until now, most parents had to go privately and pay up to £200 to protect their child against the virus, which causes red itchy spots.

Some would even host chickenpox parties to let their child catch it early.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has also recommended a temporary catch-up programme for slightly older children who’ve missed out on this initial rollout.

Chickenpox cases dipped during the Covid pandemic due to restrictions on socialising, meaning there is currently a larger pool of children than usual who are unprotected against the highly contagious virus.

Chickenpox can be more severe if you catch it for the first time as a teen or an adult rather than as a young child.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam from the UK Health Security Agency said: “Introducing a vaccine against chickenpox would prevent most children getting what can be quite a nasty illness – and for those who would experience more severe symptoms, it could be a life saver.

“The JCVI’s recommendations will help make chickenpox a problem of the past and bring the UK into line with a number of other countries that have well-established programmes.”