Chickenpox vaccination launch

All young children in the UK will now be offered protection against chickenpox for the first time on the NHS. Experts say the new, combined vaccine called MMRV, where V stands for varicella – another name for chickenpox – is expected to reduce the many thousands of families affected by the infection each year and prevent the most severe cases.

The vaccine will be combined with the existing MMR jab, given at 12 and 18 months of age, which already helps protect against measles, mumps and rubella.