New meningitis and septicaemia vaccination programmes announced

Public Health England has announced the launch of new MenB and MenACWY vaccination programmes to protect babies and young people against the meningococcal bacterium.

The MenACWY vaccine will be available from August 2015 to all 17 and 18-year-olds, as well as older students aged 19 to 25 who are starting university this year. From spring 2016 there will also be a school-based immunisation programme.

Meanwhile, the MenB vaccine will be offered to infants at the age of two months from September, in addition to a limited catch-up programme for infants who are due their three or four-month vaccinations.

This will make England the first country in the world to begin national and publicly-funded MenB immunisation.

Public health minister Jane Ellison said: "I am very proud that we will be able to offer families extra peace of mind with these new vaccination programmes from this summer."

It is hoped that these new programmes will play a key role in preventing the spread of meningitis and septicaemia nationwide.