"I’d never pass up the chance to reduce the risk of going through what I experienced with meningitis. I’d tell my friends not to put it off; just book it and get it done.”
The NHS is rolling out a one-off MenB vaccination programme for 18-year-olds or those due to start university in September.
Starting in England on 13 July 2026,the programme will offer one million young people a MenB vaccine to help protect them against the disease before they start university.
We have been calling for changes to the NHS vaccination schedule for young people for many years, most recently with our ongoing No Plan B for MenB campaign.
Over the course of the meningitis outbreak in Kent our campaign was shared in the media and supported by hundreds of people. We are now joining forces with young people with an experience of meningitis to ensure all eligible young people take up the vaccination offer.
Eliana Shaw-Lothian was in her first year at university when she fell ill with meningococcal meningitis. She was living in halls when she became seriously unwell. It was thanks to her flatmates and her parents that she was rushed to hospital in time to save her life.
Eliana wants to urge all eligible young people to get their two free shots:
“If myself and my friends were still 18 and eligible, I would tell them all to get the MenB vaccine. It only takes a short amount of time, but it could make a huge difference. At 18, it’s easy to think you’re invincible, and I certainly did. Looking back, I’d never pass up the chance to reduce the risk of going through what I experienced with meningitis. I’d tell my friends not to put it off; just book it and get it done.”
Teenagers and young people are the second most at-risk group for contracting meningitis, and MenB is one of the most common causes of meningitis amongst young people. Meningitis can kill within hours or leave survivors with life-changing after-effects – including limb loss, hearing loss and acquired brain injury.
Teenagers won’t have had a MenB vaccination as a child as it was only introduced to the NHS vaccination schedule for infants in 2015. This means, unless they have had a MenB vaccination privately, they are unprotected against this life-threatening disease.
The NHS’s one-off MenB vaccination programme will be offered to:
- Everyone in England and Wales born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008 (current Year 13 students).
- Equivalent final-year school students in Scotland and Northern Ireland (Year 14 or S6).
- Those under 25 who will be attending university, or living in further education accommodation or halls of residence, for the first time in autumn 2026. This includes eligible students from the UK[TR1] , Crown Dependencies and international students.
Two doses of the MenB vaccine are required for maximum protection. The second dose must be given at least four weeks after the first. The vaccine is fully effective two weeks after the second dose. Therefore, the whole process takes six weeks from start to finish. This is why it’s important for eligible young people to get a first dose as early as possible, ideally well before the autumn term begins.
Dr Tom Nutt, Chief Executive of Meningitis Now, said:
"This summer represents an unmissable opportunity to protect thousands of young people against MenB. We want every eligible teenager and young adult to take up the offer of a free vaccination."
"This NHS programme is a hugely positive step and we are proud to support it. But we also know that protection cannot stop here. That's why our ‘No Plan B for MenB’ campaign continues to call for a routine adolescent MenB vaccination programme, so future generations of young people receive this protection as part of everyday NHS immunisation."
"Meningitis can strike anyone, at any time, and its impact can be devastating. Vaccination is one of our most powerful tools to prevent meningococcal disease, but it only works if people come forward. We are asking parents, carers, schools, colleges, universities and young people themselves to spread the word and make sure nobody misses this opportunity."
For more information about the vaccination programme, eligibility, and how to book MenB vaccines please find our webpage here.
