Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for NHS provision of the Bexsero vaccine for Meningitis B; and whether the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has considered expanding access to additional age groups since its 2016 review.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) most recently considered meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination in June 2024 and February 2025. Over the past decade, the number of cases of invasive meningococcal disease in infants has fallen significantly, largely due to the success of the MenB vaccination programme.

The JCVI advised that MenB vaccination should continue to be offered to infants, and that the second dose should be given at 12 weeks of age to provide earlier protection from the full course.

The JCVI has also reviewed the potential for an adolescent MenB vaccination programme. Evidence shows that MenB vaccines do not prevent adolescents from carrying the bacteria that cause the disease, meaning such a programme is highly unlikely to be cost-effective.