Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of meningitis B vaccine stocks across the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Current availability of the Meningococcal B vaccine for the national immunisation programme is adequate with a central buffer of stock being maintained (and monitored) to ensure security of supply. The vaccine continues to be delivered to eligible infants as part of the National Health Service childhood immunisation schedule. However, the manufacturers of Bexsero, GlaxoSmithKline, have confirmed that they have supply constraints for the private market due to unexpected Global demand.