Chickenpox jabs for kids' rollout

CHILDREN will be offered a chickenpox vaccine on the NHS for the first time from January.

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

Health chiefs have decided to add it to the combined measles, mumps and rubella jab, known as the MMR.

Until now, parents worried about chickenpox have had to pay roughly £150 at private clinics for their child to be vaccinated against the disease.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Most parents probably consider chickenpox to be a common and mild illness but for some babies, young children and even adults, chickenpox can be very serious.

“[It can lead] to hospital admission and, while rare, it can be fatal.