Asked by: Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is the Government is taking to restore routine meningococcal immunisation programmes following disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The delivery of the MenACWY vaccine was interrupted by the closure of schools from 23 March 2020. Vaccine delivery was resumed as soon as possible and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to ensure any students affected by this disruption have the opportunity to be vaccinated.
Vaccines against meningococcal B, given to children at one year old, were not paused during the pandemic. General practices continued to offer routine vaccination services, using social distancing and personal protective equipment. However, any child who did not receive their routine vaccinations during the pandemic remains eligible and general practitioners are able to provide the service to any child who has missed a vaccination.