JCVI issues recommendation on adolescent MenB vaccination in UK

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will consider the guidance before making any decisions about adjustments to the NHS Meningitis B (MenB) vaccination schedule.

This latest move follows a MenB disease outbreak in Kent this year, which prompted the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to request the JCVI review the issue of routine vaccination in adolescents.

The JCVI review incorporated recent data on MenB vaccine effectiveness, including information on a single additional dose in adolescents who were vaccinated against MenB in infancy.

The committee has suggested offering a single dose of the 4CMenB vaccine at approximately 15 years of age to those who already received the vaccination in infancy.

These individuals are referred to as ‘primed adolescents’ and specifically include people born on or after 1 May 2015.

The first group to follow this guideline will turn 15 years old in 2030.

JCVI has also recommended providing two doses to adolescents born on or before 30 April 2015 (unprimed adolescents) at around the age of 15 years.

The committee further supports a MenB vaccine catch-up programme for those missing either the current one-off 2026 offer or the planned 15-year-old vaccination group.

It has reviewed evidence on vaccine effectiveness, protection against invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), recent outbreaks, possible effects on gonococcal infection, and cost-effectiveness.

JCVI chair Professor Wei Shen Lim said: “Additionally, JCVI has now also provided the government with a recommendation and additional considerations for a future routine MenB adolescent vaccination programme for those aged around 15 years. The DHSC will now consider this with a decision to be made in due course.”

The MenB vaccination programme for infants began in 2015, following initial JCVI recommendations from 2014.

As of now, a one-time MenB vaccine is available for eligible young people entering university or residential further education settings from late 2026.

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