UK government health advisers are recommending that meningitis B (MenB) vaccine be offered routinely to teenagers in England from around age 15. Multiple outlets report that the recommendation comes from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), following recent concerns and outbreaks of meningitis B. Several articles cite outbreaks linked to the earlier Kent situation this year, in which two teenagers died, and describe wider occurrences that have prompted calls for broader protection.
Sources also report that the proposed approach involves giving two doses to young people who missed vaccination earlier in life. The Independent specifies that JCVI advises two doses for children over age 11 who did not receive the jab as babies. Other reporting frames the recommendation as moving toward an NHS offer for all 15-year-olds rather than targeted groups.
The BBC adds that advisers are asking the government to consider introducing MenB jabs for free from age 15 and notes timing plans referenced in broader coverage, while other outlets focus on the recommendation itself and the impetus from the Kent outbreak and subsequent concern about additional cases.
