Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the response of 20 April 2026 to question 125947; what progress has been made on receiving independent expert advice from the JCVI on the meningococcal B vaccination programme, including whether this should be extended to young people who were not eligible for the routine infant immunisation programme introduced in 2015.

As the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care told the House on 17 March in the context of the meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent, the Joint Committee on Vaccinations (JCVI) has been asked to re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines to assess, for example, an expanded offer to older children and/or young adults. The JCVI will provide updated advice to the Department this summer around whether, and to what extent, a vaccine programme for older children and/or young adults would be clinically effective. This will also include an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of such a vaccination programme. The JCVI is required to consider the cost-effectiveness of a vaccination programme as part of their Code of Practice, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#code-of-practice-and-conflicts-of-interests.

The JCVI gives advice to ministers based on the best evidence, reflecting current good practice and/or expert opinion. This involves a robust, transparent, and systematic appraisal of the available evidence from a wide range of sources. The JCVI aims to work with key stakeholders while maintaining the independence of committee processes and considerations.

The context of the recent meningococcal outbreak in Kent will be important to consider in any updated modelling which is considered by the JCVI going forward.