Meningitis B

[notafancyusername]

Anyone with a 19/20 year old ?
Should we be getting the meningitis B vaccination for them ?

Yes. You have to get it done privately at boots or Superdrug. It costs £220

This is the latest statement from the UK Health Security Agency Regional Deputy Director for the South East, Trish Mannes - Published 16 March 2026

www.gov.uk/government/news/cases-of-invasive-meningococcal-disease-confirmed-in-kent

My 20 year old is meant to be doing Kung Fu in Canterbury tonight but my husband doesn't want him to go

I’m really shocked that this vaccine is not available on the NHS for those who didn’t receive it as a child.

You can't get the Men B vaccine privately now, the government is prioritising stock for Kent. DS's appointment for vaccination has been cancelled.
The NHS should have caught this age group up on this vaccination.

I saw and while I relieved by children are vaccinated (born post 2015), I was shocked that they’ve withheld this vaccine for 11 years from older children who are now dying from it.

I have a 19 yo. He had the vaccine at boots when he started uni.

My DD’s private vaccine has been cancelled too. I really hope that as a result of this outbreak they’ll do a mass vaccination of this age group.

My DD had the Meningitis B jab as sadly a student died at her uni. I arranged the jab through our local pharmacy and the cost was around £100 per jab, they need two.

For those going to uni in September put a leaflet up in the communal kitchen showing the symptoms of Meningitis. Also talk to your YP about keeping an eye out for their flatmates if they are unwell.

My DD had the Meningitis B jab as sadly a student died at her uni. I arranged the jab through our local pharmacy and the cost was around £100 per jab, they need two.

For those going to uni in September put a leaflet up in the communal kitchen showing the symptoms of Meningitis. Also talk to your YP about keeping an eye out for their flatmates if they are unwell.

It doesn’t provide lifelong protection, only lasts for a few years. So even if current primary school kids/teens had the vaccine as babies it wouldn’t be protective now. Need a booster pre-uni.

I paid the £220 for my 19yr old DD to have the MenB jab in Superdrug before she left for Uni in September.

It's really bad that the NHS hasn't been giving this jab to DC born before 2015.

Thanks. As they got the first jabs as babies I am sure the NHS is footing the future bill for the booster too. Which makes it even more incomprehensible that they didn’t get everyone under age 50 vaccinated in 2015 as that’s the age range for the vaccine- 2 to 50.

Of course this outbreak is scary but you all need to keep it in perspective.

There were 341 cases of MenB in 2023/24, of which 81 were in the 15-24 age group. The mortality rate across all cases was 2.3%. That’s less than 8 people. Source: NICE website.

It is not shocking or outrageous that the NHS decided not to vaccinate the 18-25 age group, give how much it would cost.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the mortality rate from Covid for the same age group lower than 2.3%? (Ages 15-24, mortality rate of 1.4%, USA CDC prior to the vaccine)
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e1.htm#T1_down

Because that wouldn’t be cost effective - that would mean vaccinating everyone under 50 every 5 years, as that’s roughly how long protection lasts for. The most vulnerable to the infection are babies/toddlers and young people starting uni, hence that’s when the vaccine is recommended. Overall, incidence of the disease is low in the general population so not something the nhs can afford to cover for everyone.

Is that definitely correct that essentially anyone vaccinated as a baby or child will need a pre uni booster? Thanks

But they’ve only been vaccinating babies since 2015 for Men B. There’s no NHS provided Men B for 18yr olds and only off to Uni students?

Private jabs are now being cancelled x

Why are they being cancelled, do you know? X

There will be a limited number of vaccines in the country and they might want to do mass vaccination in Kent to contain it before the Easter holidays.

Yes. Saving them for places of outbreak.

My DD is due to come home for Easter this weekend. It’s a little concerning that in the next week or 2 weeks have many thousands of university students, including those from infected areas, travelling to other parts of the UK

Mine isn’t cancelled yet ( paid and booked this morning)

For the people who had their vaccinations cancelled, was this at Boots or Superdrug? Did they get cancelled immediately after you booked them or has this just happened? There are still appointments available in some branches so it would be good to know in advance not to bother trawling through the website and arranging to get to some out of the way location....tia