Meningitis: Vaccination
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider extending NHS provision of the (a) Meningitis ACWY and (b) Bexsero vaccines to those who are currently ineligible under the national immunisation programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government relies on expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) when making decisions about which vaccines are offered through the NHS.
The JCVI has advised that extending the Meningitis ACWY vaccine to infants or toddlers is unlikely to be cost-effective, as very few cases would be prevented thanks to the success of the current adolescent programme.
For the Bexsero (MenB) vaccine, the JCVI has found that while it has reduced disease in infants, it does not stop the spread of the bacteria among teenagers. As a result, offering it to adolescents is also unlikely to be cost-effective at this time.
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