UK NHS Rolls Out Combined MMRV Vaccine for Children

Starting Friday, the National Health Service in the United Kingdom will begin offering a combined vaccine against chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella to young children for the first time as part of its routine immunization program. The rollout, which covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, replaces the existing MMR vaccine with the MMRV formulation, providing protection against the varicella virus that causes chickenpox.

Health officials expect hundreds of thousands of children to become eligible immediately. Children born on or after January 1, 2025, will receive two doses at 12 months and 18 months of age. Those born between July 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, will get two doses at 18 months and three years and four months. Children born from September 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024, qualify for one dose at three years and four months. A single-dose catch-up program is planned later this year for children born between January 1, 2020, and August 31, 2022. In Northern Ireland, the program will start in 2026, with eligible children receiving the combined vaccine from January 1 onward. General practitioners will contact families to schedule appointments.