Overview
- The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised on Thursday that all 15-year-olds in Britain should be routinely offered the meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine and that ministers must now decide whether to add it to the NHS schedule.
- A one-off NHS summer offer begins from July 20, giving two MenB doses to around one million Year 13 pupils and under-25s starting university or residential further education for the first time.
- JCVI proposes a single booster at about age 15 for children who had MenB as infants (born on/after May 1, 2015) and two-dose schedules or catch-ups for those who missed infant doses and older teens.
- The MenB course requires two doses at least 28 days apart for full protection, protects specifically against group B meningococcal bacteria, and is estimated to give strong protection for at least five years.
- Experts say recent clusters, including a fast-growing Kent outbreak that caused two deaths, reflect waning population immunity and higher transmission in halls and shared housing, which is why summer delivery aims to protect students before the autumn term.