Who can be vaccinated against chickenpox?

The chickenpox vaccine is now recommended for non-immune health care workers who work in primary care and in hospitals and who have direct patient contact.

People at high risk, such as vulnerable patients in hospital, are sometimes vaccinated.

The vaccine is also sometimes given to the siblings of children with leukemia or who have had organ transplants (and whose immune systems are not fully functioning). This is to prevent brothers and sisters passing on the virus to the sick child, who would find it hard to fight the illness.

The vaccine is not recommended for those whose immune systems are not working properly. This includes those undergoing chemotherapy, people who have had a transplant and are using immuno-suppressant drugs, or patients who have recently had a bone marrow transplant. It is not recommended in pregnancy, because the effects of the vaccine on the developing baby are unknown.