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Parents are raising concerns following the government’s announcement of a new vaccination scheme. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) alongside England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, have sparked a variety of reactions with their decision to introduce a new vaccine for children.
Professor Whitty gained prominence during the coronavirus pandemic, providing daily updates alongside Sir Patrick Vallance, now the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, and then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. On Friday (August 29), he, along with the DHSC, unveiled plans for the vaccine, set to be available in January 2026, but many UK parents have expressed skepticism about its necessity.
The DHSC posted on X, highlighting the launch of a chickenpox vaccination programme, aiming to protect about half a million children annually. “Starting in January 2026, eligible children will receive an MMRV vaccine to shield against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox,” they stated. Details on eligibility are yet to be announced.
Professor Whitty also commented on the platform, explaining: “Chickenpox is widespread. While often merely unpleasant, it can sometimes be severe or life-threatening. A widely used vaccine will now be accessible to all children, not just those who can afford it. Vaccination offers a safer immunity than infection does.”
Responses on X were mixed, with some users remembering the days when “chicken pox parties” were held to naturally immunize children. “I’ll go with the process,” one user stated. “I don’t know anyone who had serious complications from chickenpox that would justify a vaccine.”
Another user reminisced: “Back in the day, we had chicken pox parties. Everyone got it once, and that was it. A bit of calamine lotion, and a week later, you were cured for life.”
A third concurred: “When I grew up, were encouraged to try and catch chickenpox from a friend or sibling if they were infected (just playing together etc). We all lived. It was pretty harmless.”
Meanwhile, a fourth X user claimed: “I dont think anyone believes that injections are safer than natural immunity. I certainly don’t. The last thing we saw where such a thing was proclaimed as better than getting the illness, went horribly wrong and all assurances were disproved.”
While chickenpox usually causes an unpleasant infection that goes away on its own, however, it can rarely cause more significant complications. In 2023, when the vaccine was first prosposed, mum Leanne Passey expressed her support after almost losing her then-five-year old daughter, Reign. The child developed a potentially fatal “flesh-eating” strep A infection, a complication of having contracted chickenpox.
Thankfully, the little girl survived the ordeal, buut it left her with a scar on her right side. Leanne said she “1,000%” backs the call from NHS advisers that all children in the UK should be given a chickenpox vaccine between the ages of 12 and 18 months.
“I wouldn’t want any mother to go through [what I did]. It’s horrendous, you never expect it to happen to you until it does,” she explained.
The government states that the vaccine rollout will “help raise the healthiest generation of children ever, while reducing sick days and time parents take off work”. It adds: “It will mean kids miss fewer days in nursery and school while parents will not need to take time off work to care for them. Research shows that chickenpox in childhood results in an estimated £24 million in lost income and productivity every year in the UK. The rollout will also save the NHS £15 million a year in costs for treating the common condition.”
Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said of the vaccination: “We’re giving parents the power to protect their children from chickenpox and its serious complications, while keeping them in nursery or the classroom where they belong and preventing parents from scrambling for childcare or having to miss work.
“This vaccine puts children’s health first and gives working families the support they deserve. As part of our Plan for Change, we want to give every child the best possible start in life, and this rollout will help to do exactly that.”
