Catch-up chickenpox jab for children aged 4 to 6 begins in England on Sunday
The offer starts as new figures show 3,037 hospital admissions for chickenpox among under-18s in England in 2025, the year before the vaccine joined the routine schedule.
Parents of children aged 4 to 6 in England may soon be offered a vaccine that was not on the routine schedule when those children had their baby jabs. A catch-up programme for chickenpox starts on Sunday 1 November and runs until 31 March 2028.
It is for children born between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022 who have not already had chickenpox or two doses of a chickenpox vaccine. They will be offered one dose of the combined MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. These children will already have been offered two MMR jabs.
Chickenpox joined the routine childhood schedule on 1 January 2026. Children now get two doses of MMRV, at 12 and 18 months. Babies under 12 months are not routinely vaccinated because the vaccine may not produce a strong immune response at that age, so they rely on protection from older children being immunised.
What the 2025 figures show
The UK Health Security Agency published its chickenpox report today, covering the last year before the vaccine was routine. It recorded:
- 3,037 hospital admissions among under-18s
- 15,099 GP consultations among under-18s, from monitoring of around a third of GP practices
- 4,117 absences across a sample of 439 nurseries and primary schools
Children aged 5 and under made up more than 70% of clinical reports to the agency's regional health protection teams. The highest peak in hospital admission rates was among babies under one.
The agency says the report captures only a fraction of the true burden, because many parents manage the illness at home without seeking medical advice. It is urging parents of eligible children to come forward for the vaccine.
