The UKHSA has said the risk is ‘substantially greater’ for some people
Around a million Year 13 pupils and those under 25 starting university this autumn will be offered the meningitis B (menB) vaccine, the Government has announced. The one-off jab programme will offer two doses to youngsters aged 17 to 18 in Year 13, plus those aged under 25 going to university or other residential further education this autumn.
Young people will be offered their first dose from July 20 with a second dose given in August. Two doses, at least 28 days apart, are needed for full protection. It comes after a series of outbreaks of meningitis, with the most serious being in Kent earlier this year which left two teenagers dead.
Juliette Kenny, 18, died in the Kent outbreak and her family have been campaigning for teenagers and young people to be routinely given access to the menB vaccine. The Kent outbreak was the fastest growing and largest seen in the UK, and other smaller clusters of meningitis in young people since then have been bigger than expected.
Close and prolonged contact in halls of residence, shared homes and at social events can increase the risk of contracting menB. Pupils in Year 13 will be contacted via the NHS app, text or letter to come forward for the jab (Bexsero) manufactured by GSK, while others under 25 will book their appointment directly with pharmacies.
Anyone who misses out on the second August jab because of holidays will still be able to get it in September. The programme is being delivered by community pharmacists. Health Secretary James Murray said: “The Kent outbreak and recent clusters indicate a possible change to the way menB affects people.
“While we assess the latest evidence, we are acting now to help protect young people at highest immediate risk as they enter university and residential colleges this autumn.
“The one-off programme will make menB vaccination available to people who complete Year 13 of education in the summer of 2026 born between September 1 2007 and August 31 2008, as well as people under 25 starting university or moving into some residential further education settings for the first time in autumn 2026.
“By offering two doses of the jabs ahead of the academic year, we will help reduce the risk of serious illness and larger outbreaks of this horrendous disease. I urge all those students who are eligible to come forward for their two doses in July and August, to give them peace of mind as they head off to continue their studies.”
According to the UKHSA, the risk of menB in first year university students is substantially greater than for those not at university.
Cases of invasive disease tend to peak in October to November each year. The Government said anyone finishing Year 13 this summer and born between September 1 2007 and August 31 2008 is eligible for the jab whether or not they are going to university.
Anyone under 25 beginning their first year of university this autumn is also eligible. Students going into their second, third or later year of university are not eligible, neither are postgraduate students starting a masters or PhD.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is currently preparing advice to ministers on whether a bigger and longer programme is needed for young people. Dr Shamez Ladhani, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, was asked during a media briefing why people in their second year of university, for example, were not being given the jab.
He said: “The question about eligibility is always difficult, because you have to have boundaries to be able to deliver a programme, and at the moment, given how quickly we’ve had to work, we have had to prioritise those who are at highest risk.
“The group that is being vaccinated is broadly the group at the highest risk. If you’re outside the eligibility, your risk is lower, and therefore it makes sense to protect those who are most needed first and then look at what we’re doing to try and see how best to optimise the programme.”
He said the most likely explanation for the fact more young people seem to have been hit by meningitis clusters this year than previously is that population immunity against menB is currently low. “The most likely explanation is that we actually have had 25 years of declining cases of menB disease,” he said.
“Now, meningococcal disease cycles go through cycles of 20 to 30 years. It goes down when you have good population immunity, and then that immunity goes down and new strains appear where the population doesn’t have immunity against these strains, and then cases start going up again.”
He said Covid lockdowns may have played a role and it would “not be surprising” but it was difficult to show that. He said after the pandemic there was a rise in meningitis cases but that then settled. “How much the pandemic and the restrictions are contributing to our current state is difficult to say,” he added.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Thomas Waite said menB is fatal in up to 10% of cases. “Two doses of the menB vaccine, at least four weeks apart, are needed for maximum protection, and I encourage everyone who is attending university and further education for the first time this autumn to come forward for their first dose as soon as possible,” he said.
International students
International students under 25 entering their first year of university this year should receive their first menB dose in their home country where possible, the Department of Health said. Dr Tom Nutt, chief executive of the charity Meningitis Now, told the Press Association (PA): “I think this is a great step forward in the fight against meningitis in the UK.
“We would love to see it rolled out further, and we’d love to see this made permanent, but I think at the moment this is a good practical and pragmatic response.”
Vinny Smith, chief executive of the Meningitis Research Foundation, told PA the programme was a “step towards closing the UK’s menB protection gap”. He added: “However, a one-off programme will not fully close that gap – teens and young adults who fall outside the current eligibility criteria remain at risk of menB.
“That is why we will continue to make the evidence-led case for routine NHS access for them, including seeking clarity from Government and the JCVI on what happens next.”