UK advises MenB vaccine for 15‑year‑olds after Kent outbreak

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that all adolescents around age 15 be offered the meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine on the NHS. The recommendation follows the country’s largest and fastest‑growing MenB outbreak in Kent earlier this year, which killed two teenagers and produced 21 confirmed cases.

The committee proposes a single dose for teens who received the infant MenB series (born on or after 1 May 2015) and two doses for those who were not vaccinated as babies (born on or before 30 April 2015). It also calls for a catch‑up programme for anyone who might miss the routine offer. The advice is pending government approval.

A separate one‑off summer programme is already being delivered to roughly a million Year 13 pupils and under‑25 university entrants, providing two doses of MenB to 17‑ and 18‑year‑olds and other young adults. Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the JCVI, said the disease is “rare but very serious” and that the new recommendation aims to protect teens at the point they are most at risk.

The proposal is based on updated evidence of vaccine effectiveness, cost‑effectiveness analysis, and the need to address low population immunity after the 2026 outbreak cycle.