A chickenpox vaccine is being rolled out on the NHS for the primary time.
It is going to be supplied to kids alongside the MMR jab, which protects in opposition to measles, mumps, and rubella.
It is a combo that is lengthy been accessible to kids in different nations, together with the US, Canada, and Australia, and the transfer has been welcomed by well being consultants.
The UK rollout was really helpful by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in 2023, and in England alone a whole bunch of hundreds of children can be eligible from at the moment.
Well being Secretary Wes Streeting mentioned it is going to “make an actual distinction for youngsters and households”.
He mentioned: “Whereas chickenpox will be irritable and tough for youngsters, it can be extraordinarily critical and infrequently even deadly.
“The beauty of this new vaccine is that it combines the vaccine for chickenpox with MMR, which implies that households can entry this jab for his or her kids, aged between 12 and 18 months.”
Who’s eligible for the vaccine?
Kids born on or after 1 January 2025 can be supplied two doses of MMRV at 12 months and 18 months.
These born between 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2024 can be supplied one dose at 18 months and one other at three years, 4 months.
Kids born between 1 September 2022 and 30 June 2024 can be supplied one dose at three years, 4 months.
A single-dose catch-up scheme can also be deliberate for youngsters born between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022.
NHS England mentioned GPs can be contacting households as a part of the routine childhood vaccination programme.
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Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunisation on the UK Well being Safety Company, mentioned the jab “has been proven to be extremely efficient” in different nations, “with an excellent security profile”.
Dr Claire Fuller, nationwide medical director for NHS England, added: “This can be a massively optimistic second for youngsters and their households, offering safety in opposition to chickenpox for the primary time and including to the arsenal of routine vaccinations we give to kids to safeguard them in opposition to critical diseases.”
The vaccine will “preserve extra kids secure and at school”, she added.
