JCVI recommends routine MenB vaccination programme for 15-year-olds
A routine MenB vaccination programme should be introduced for 15-year-olds, government advisors have recommended.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed the evidence after an outbreak of meningococcal B disease in Kent earlier this year which saw 21 confirmed cases and two deaths.
This will now be considered by government to determine if any additional offer of MenB vaccine should be made, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) officials said.
It follows a one-off vaccination campaign for Year 13 pupils as well as those under 25 years who are starting university or residential further education for the first time this autumn.
The JCVI said meningococcal disease was unpredictable with peaks and troughs in cases but noted that the outbreak in Kent had been the largest the UK had seen in recent years with two further clusters reported in Weymouth and Reading.
Outbreaks this year have been caused by different sub-strains of meningococcal serogroup B and do not suggest the emergence of a single, hypervirulent strain, the committee said.
In addition, studies in Kent found very low carriage of MenB among university students, consistent with previous figures showing a decline in carriage and disease incidence, the statement noted.
But this suggests that the UK population is ‘currently much less exposed to MenB compared to previously, possibly leading to population immunity overall being low against MenB disease’, it said.
‘It is possible that the recent outbreaks may signal the start of a new endemic period of meningococcal serogroup B disease in the UK, which would be consistent with previous similar cycles over the past century,’ the JCVI concluded.
The committee said it was able to look at new evidence on the use of a single dose of 4CMenB vaccine in adolescents who received it in infancy as well as evidence on protection from MenB vaccination against gonococcal disease.
But in recommending the universal vaccine offer in 15-year-olds, the JCVI reiterated that the currently available vaccine would only confer direct protection to vaccinated individuals with no herd protection in the population.
Should a routine programme be approved, children born before April 2015 before the MenB vaccine was introduced in the infant schedule should receive two doses, the JCVI said, as should those whose age puts them between this offer and the current one-off programme.
But those born after this time who would have already received the vaccine as babies, would only need one dose. This group will turn 15 years in 2030.
JCVI chair Professor Wei Shen Lim said: ‘Following the meningitis outbreaks in early 2026, a one-off programme for two-doses of MenB vaccine is being offered to eligible young people this summer.
‘We encourage everyone who is eligible to book an appointment online to receive the vaccine at a local pharmacy, in time for the second dose to be received before heading off to university or college.
‘Additionally, JCVI has now also provided Government with a recommendation and additional considerations for a future routine MenB adolescent vaccination programme for those aged around 15 years.
‘DHSC will now consider this with a decision to be made in due course.’
He said JCVI had worked closely with meningitis charities and would like to thank all those who responded, including on behalf of loved ones who sadly died or had life-changing complications.
‘Their lived experiences were carefully considered and our thoughts are with those who continue to be affected by this disease.’
GP leaders have criticised NHS England’s decision to commission the previously-announced one-off national Meningococcal B (Men B) vaccination programme to be carried out by community pharmacies only.
The programme, which will begin on 20 July, has been commissioned to provide Men B vaccination to 17- and 18-year-olds and to people who are starting undergraduate higher education or moving into further education accommodation or halls of residence for the first time in the autumn.
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