Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timescale his Department has set for rolling out the meningococcal group B vaccine Bexsero to all babies as part of the national immunisation programme.

The Department is continuing negotiations for the supply of the meningococcal B vaccine Bexsero^® with the manufacturer Novartis with a view to securing a cost-effective price as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Plans for inclusion of the Bexsero^® in the routine infant immunisation programme will depend on the outcome of these negotiations, which will be completed as quickly as practicable.