Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation plans to complete its review into the inclusion of the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine in the childhood vaccination programme.

In 2010, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation found that offering a universal varicella vaccination programme against chickenpox would not be cost effective and may increase the risk of severe disease and complications in adulthood, both from chickenpox and shingles.

The varicella/zoster subcommittee has kept this under review. In February 2019 the subcommittee commissioned modellers to re-run the economic modelling with new quality-adjusted life year data and discount rates. This work was paused during the pandemic and will recommence in due course.