You can get the chickenpox vaccine in the UK but it's not one you can get free on the NHS. Having a jab when you already have immunity can cause problems - that's why they always did a skin-test for TB before giving you the BCG. If you already had immunity and took the jab then the reaction could be very severe. That said the BCG provokes a nasty reaction anyway so scaling that up could be nasty. I think if there was any danger in having the chickenpox vaccine when you were already immune (beyond a little added discomfort) then they would do a test for immunity routinely anyway.

See that causes problems for me because having had my mmr as a kid and not finding out about my immunity til the bloodwork when I was pregnant I dont know if I have always been immune, I always assumed that it would top up anti bodies. I only mentioned the shingles thing because I know people that get flu like symptoms after the flu vaccine but I think getting measles after the MMR or chicken pox after that vaccine is rare. I just thought I would mention it as it might be OP's worry.

I honestly don't understand why parents give their kids the chicken pox vaccine. I really don't. By preventing your kids from getting chicken pox when they're young, you're making it so if they end up getting it as an adult, it will be 1000x worse with severe complications and a higher chance of dying from it. I plan to send my kids home with their friends when their friends get it so that they will too. A week in be as a kid is nothing compared to how bad it can be as an adult.

The vaccine doesn't "put off" getting varicella. Where are you getting this information?

If he's had it before then he won't get it again so why would you need to get him a vaccine that could harm him. It has happened that Kids have gotten vaccines and developed mental disabilities or even die

Sure some people die because they don't read the information packet before getting a vaccine, but that can be prevented just by reading & knowing allergies. as for autism the writer of the report admitted to making the whole thing up. There's no evidence MMR causes autism.

I will use my favourite piece of info for this reply. To person who thinks vaccines cause autism here is a real life example. My year group and I were the first age group in the UK to recieve the MMR. If I know 100 people of my age (which i have through my life) then for there to be a problem with the MMR at least 30 of the people I know should be autistic. You need a certain number out of 100 for a good case study and even 30 is low to prove a corelation. Im not a medical researcher tho, how many do you need to prove a danger in a medication? The only person I know who has anything close has Aspergus (sp?) and is four years older than me. The supposed rise in autism has carried on in countries where the vaccine was banned. I had a big fight about this not so long ago that how I ended up looking up loads of info on it.

Not getting the chicken pox vaccine does not mean you're not having your child properly vaccinated. Most people don't give their kids that one, and honestly it's beyond me why anybody would give it.

I agree that the chicken pox vaccine shouldn't be a requirement for schools, but I'm not against giving it either. Chicken pox can make you miss several days of school, so I can see why a school would want to avoid an outbreak...