Landmark chickenpox vaccine rollout begins

A chickenpox vaccine is being rolled retired connected the NHS for the archetypal time.

It volition beryllium offered to youngsters alongside the MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.

It's a combo that's agelong been disposable to children successful different countries, including the US, Canada, and Australia, and the determination has been welcomed by wellness experts.

The UK rollout was recommended by the Joint Committee connected Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) successful 2023, and successful England unsocial hundreds of thousands of kids volition beryllium eligible from today.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it volition "make a existent quality for children and families".

He said: "While chickenpox tin beryllium irritable and hard for children, it tin besides beryllium highly superior and occasionally adjacent fatal.

"The large happening astir this caller vaccine is that it combines the vaccine for chickenpox with MMR, which means that families tin entree this jab for their children, aged betwixt 12 and 18 months."

Who is eligible for the vaccine?

Children calved connected oregon aft 1 January 2025 volition beryllium offered 2 doses of MMRV astatine 12 months and 18 months.

Those calved betwixt 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2024 volition beryllium offered 1 dose astatine 18 months and different astatine 3 years, 4 months.

Children calved betwixt 1 September 2022 and 30 June 2024 volition beryllium offered 1 dose astatine 3 years, 4 months.

A single-dose catch-up strategy is besides planned for children calved betwixt 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022.

NHS England said GPs volition beryllium contacting families arsenic portion of the regular puerility vaccination programme.

Read much from Sky News:
UK snowfall warnings upgraded
Swiss barroom occurrence 'like a fearfulness movie'

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, lawman manager of immunisation astatine the UK Health Security Agency, said the jab "has been shown to beryllium highly effective" successful different countries, "with a bully information profile".

Dr Claire Fuller, nationalist aesculapian manager for NHS England, added: "This is simply a hugely affirmative infinitesimal for children and their families, providing extortion against chickenpox for the archetypal clip and adding to the arsenal of regular vaccinations we springiness to children to safeguard them against superior illnesses."

The vaccine volition "keep much children harmless and successful school", she added.