Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current status is of further modelling and cost-effectiveness analysis of MenABCWY vaccination in teenagers considered by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s meningococcal sub-committee; and whether that work will inform any wider review of (a) meningococcal group B vaccines and (b) meningococcal group B vaccine eligibility criteria.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, told the House on 17 March in the context of the recent meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent, that 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 as well as an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of such a vaccination programme.

The JCVI gives advice to ministers based on the best evidence reflecting current good practice and/or expert opinion. The process 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 its processes and considerations.

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 meningococcal sub-committee meeting heard presentations regarding modelling of MenABCWY vaccination in adolescents in their meeting on 13 November 2025. The minutes of this meeting are available in the document attached. This meeting took place before the 2026 outbreak in Kent and the subsequent request from my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to review eligibility for the meningococcal group B vaccine in older children and young adults. 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.

It is also important to note that there are currently no MenABCWY vaccines licensed in the United Kingdom.