High-street pharmacist, Superdrug has announced new stocks of the MenB vaccine, Bexsero available through their clinic services, at £95 per dose for patients aged 2 months to 50 years
The MenB vaccine was added to the NHS childhood immunisation programme in September 2015, but is currently only available to babies born on or after 1 May 2015, meaning that thousands of the most at risk under 5s in the UK are not protected.
Recent data published by Public Health England shows that 57% of all MenB cases in 2014/2015 occurred in children in this age group and as MenB is fatal in 1 in 10 cases, there is a real urgency for children to be protected.
Liz Brown CEO at Meningitis Now said:
“We welcome the fact that supplies of the lifesaving MenB vaccine is returning to Superdrug and other pharmacies and hope that this will reduce the over-inflated prices being asked in some practices.
“Whilst we recognise and acknowledge that there is a large group of parents that are willing and able to pay for the vaccine privately, we know that there are many that can’t afford to pay.
“In April 2016 the Government decided to ignore the wishes of 823,000 people who had signed the then biggest-ever parliamentary petition calling for the Meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine to be extended to all under 5s. Add your child’s name to our open letter to Jeremy Hunt here, and give children a voice in the ongoing campaign to get them protected for free”
Superdrug are recommending either two or three doses depending on age, and are making the vaccine available to adults up the age of 50.
To make an appointment and for more information, contact the Superdrug booking line on 03 333 111 007.
