The chickenpox vaccine was developed in the 1990s, when I was still a medical resident. Initial articles recommended its widespread use so that parents wouldn’t have to stay home and take care of their sick children.

In fact, one of the stated rationales for vaccination was a cost-benefit analysis that would save parents money because they wouldn’t have to take time off work.

The idea was ridiculous: Inject a child with a foreign substance so you don’t have to take time off work? A parent’s real job is to care for his or her sick child.

Today, children are given two chickenpox vaccines because it was found that one shot didn’t provoke a strong enough immune response.

But remember, the only way to trigger lifelong chickenpox immunity is to get ill with the virus and recover.

It is also understood that the immunity a person gains from the chickenpox vaccine wears off over time, leaving the people who are most susceptible to serious consequences — adults and pregnant women — vulnerable.

That is the situation we face today. Yes, the vaccine has prevented countless children from contracting chickenpox.

But as they age and the immunity imparted by the vaccine wears off, we will see many more adults and pregnant women at risk for serious complications from the virus.

And the chickenpox vaccine is not without side effects. As of September 2015, there were 3,358 serious adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

These included complications such as interstitial lung disease, agitation, paralysis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, blindness, blood clots, and low platelets and seizures — as well as 161 deaths.

The vast majority of people immunized for chickenpox do not experience adverse effects. But unfortunately, some do.