UK to add chickenpox to routine vaccines from January 2026

The NHS will add protection against chickenpox to the routine childhood immunisation schedule from January 2026, with a new combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine to be offered to preschool children at GP practices, health officials announced. The change comes as government data show childhood vaccine coverage in England has fallen in recent years, raising concerns that many children will start school vulnerable to preventable infections.

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency reported that 18.6 percent of five year olds were not up to date with the four-in-one preschool booster that protects against polio, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria in 2024-25, up from 13.7 percent a decade earlier. Uptake of the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella vaccine stood at 83.7 percent among five year olds, while 91.9 percent had received a first MMR dose. None of the main childhood vaccines met the World Health Organization target of 95 percent coverage, the agency said.

Officials and experts warned the falling rates leave children and communities at growing risk. Dr Mary Ramsay, director of immunisation at the UKHSA, said far too many children will not be fully...