Well not, not really. Whether varicella vaccine programs are provided does not necessarily reflect their necessity. Often vaccines are not offered because of poor government decisions e.g. here in Australia, the meningococcal B vaccine is not offered for free (so is prohibitively expensive for all but the very wealthy) despite the illness being extremely serious and fatal in 10% of cases. The garish stupidity of this decision cannot be overstated, yet the decision was still made. Varicella is a serious illness and can cause serious, though rare, complications. The rarity of complications is the main justification in countries not offering the vaccine to all children as a matter of course - however, when you consider that other vaccine preventable diseases are in reality more rare and yet covered, and when you consider that when complications of varicella do occur they can be fatal or can cause long term disability, it's really a no brainer.

Varicella isn't a walk in the park. It is extremely disruptive, and can cause month-long school or work absences. It causes scarring in at least 10% of people - and scars can often be quite disfiguring. In adults, it is generally severe, often requiring hospitalisation. Worldwide it causes around 7000 deaths per year. In adults, the fatality rate is about 1 in 10,000. In children, it is lower, but the risk still exists - most deaths occur due to secondary bacterial infection or pneumonia. Neonatal varicella is extremely dangerous, and can cause death much more frequently - the fatality rate for babies actually born with varicella due to maternal infection is up to 30%. Varicella is also a big fucking deal for pregnant women: infection during pregnancy often results in severe disability or death for the baby. The chance of an infected child exposing a pregnant woman is quite high, because the disease is ridiculously easy to catch and people remain contagious for weeks - the virus is also great at surviving on surfaces. Varicella also causes shingles which is a miserable illness, and people suffering shingles can spread the disease.

Vaccination against varicella is smart choice. It's certainly not a disease you can compare to measles or pertussis - its risk of mortality or morbidity is low - but letting your kids catch it is not a second best option. It's not a good option. It is a moronic, negligent option.