Children will be offered a chickenpox vaccine for free on the NHS from next year.

Around half a million children each year could be given the free jab during routine GP appointments from January 2026.

The government says their plans will ‘raise the healthiest generation ever’, just as new data shows not a single childhood vaccine met the crucial uptake target needed to prevent the spread of diseases.

The chickenpox, or varicella jab, will form part of a new combined MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella) vaccine.

Parents who want to give it to their child now must fork out £150 for it at private clinics and pharmacies. What are the symptoms of Chickenpox?

It will now be offered by GPs as part of the routine infant vaccination schedule, eventually replacing the MMR vaccine.

The

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