I remember having a very full-on case of chickenpox when I was 4, I remember how sick and itchy I was and I still have the scars to prove it. While it's a mild illness for some people, others can get very sick.
My eldest DD was vax'd just after the vax first came out. There have been a couple of times when she has had a smattering of pox-like pustules, but no illness to speak of. One time was probably bacterial but one time was after an outbreak of CP at the school so who knows? Because she's been exposed to live chickenpox virus on several occasions since vax her immune response will have been strengthened and will probably continue to be as long as there's still CP kicking around in the population.
FWIW the effect of the vaccine on shingles rates has not yet been fully determined. Shingles is most common in ppl over the age of 60 and being vax'd or non-vax'd as a child probably has less bearing on susceptibility to shingles than frequency of subsequent exposure to wild CP throughout adult life to maintain immunity. Because there's still quite a bit of CP around in Australia that immunity (whether from vax or from the illness) is more likely to persist. So in terms of shingles risk, it has less to do with whether your child is vax'd and more with whether everyone else is vax'd LOL.
from: Immunisation HandbookModelling the outcomes of the introduction of a universal childhood vaccination schedule for varicella has predicted a rise in the incidence of HZ (SHINGLES), based on the assumption that exposure to wild-type VZV(CHICKENPOX) circulating in the community boosts immunity.28 However, to date, multiple studies and surveillance data do not demonstrate any consistent changes in overall HZ incidence in the United States which has a universal varicella vaccination program that commenced in 1995.19,29 The incidence of HZ in children <10 years of age has declined, indicating that HZ rates are lower in varicella vaccine recipients.1,29
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