UK advisers urge routine MenB vaccine for all 15-year-olds

UK advisers are urging ministers to add a free MenB vaccine for all teenagers at about age 15. The proposal fills the gap after infancy and before university entry. The move follows concern over the UK’s largest and fastest growing meningitis B outbreak in Kent earlier this year, and comes as health services prepare a one-off vaccination campaign for young people across the country.

The MenB jab is already part of the routine childhood schedule, given at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 1 year old. Protection would be extended into the secondary school years, when close-contact mixing, travel and the first term at college or university can raise exposure risk. The one-off programme planned for 2026/27 will use two doses of MenB vaccine, at least 28 days apart, for young people at highest risk.

Meningitis Now says about 1 million eligible young people across the UK will be able to access a free MenB vaccine during summer 2026.

In England, high street pharmacies are already offering free MenB vaccination to many young people. The vaccine is available to people born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, or on or after 21 July 2001, while the NHS booking service requires eligible people to be 17 to 18 years old, born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, and registered with a GP surgery in England.

Scotland is also targeting the age group most likely to miss infant protection. Older teenagers and new college and university students can get a free MenB vaccine through drop-in clinics run by health boards, while NHS Scotland and other UK services are making time-limited offers to young people at higher risk of exposure.

MenB can cause meningitis and sepsis, illnesses that can spread quickly and become life-threatening.