UK panel advises free meningitis B vaccine for teens at 15

An influential health advisory committee has recommended that all teenagers in the United Kingdom be offered a free meningitis B vaccine at around age 15, a move prompted by a series of serious outbreaks earlier this year. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) made the recommendation on July 16, 2026, calling for a routine adolescent vaccination program alongside catch-up initiatives for those who would otherwise miss out.

The proposal follows the largest and fastest-growing meningitis B outbreak seen in the UK, which centered in Kent in early 2026 and resulted in the deaths of two teenagers: 18-year-old Juliette Kenny and Lewis Waters, a sixth-form pupil. Since that outbreak, other smaller clusters of the disease among young people have been larger than expected, raising public health concerns.

Under the JCVI's plan, teenagers would receive the vaccine through the National Health Service. Those who were vaccinated as babies-children born on or after May 1, 2015-would be offered a single booster dose around age 15. The first cohort to which this would apply will turn 15 in 2030. Teenagers who missed the infant vaccine, specifically those born on or before...