Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential of rolling out the meningitis B vaccine to teenagers and young adults; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is advised on all immunisation matters by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The JCVI reviewed the cost-effectiveness of a Meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination programme for adolescents and decided that it would not be cost-effective, unless the vaccine also reduced naso-pharyngeal (in the nose and throat) carriage. To answer this, the Department, in collaboration with the JCVI and Public Health England, has identified that preparatory research is needed to determine how best to assess the effects of the vaccine on MenB carriage in adolescents.

The Department’s Policy Research Programme (PRP) is currently funding a preliminary study of the meningococcal strains carried by teenagers. The Government has committed to commission a study of the effect of MenB vaccination on carriage in that group, which will be funded through the PRP.