Meningitis B vaccine to be offered to a million young people

Meningitis B vaccine to be offered to a million young people Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Students will be able to get the vaccine at community pharmaciesBySmitha MundasadHealth reporter Published12 June 2026A million young people in the UK will be offered a vaccine to help protect against meningitis B.The one-off programme has been launched after concerns over the UK's largest and fastest growing meningitis B outbreak to date in Kent this year and two further "unusual" clusters in Weymouth in Dorset and Reading in Berkshire.The two-dose vaccine will be for pupils in Year 13, in England and Wales, Year 14 in Northern Ireland and S6 in Scotland, as well as those aged 18 to 25 heading to university or residential further education for the first time in the autumn. Officials say the programme will help protect those at "highest immediate risk". Meningococcal disease can lead to life-threatening illness.What is meningitis B and why is a vaccine only being offered to some teenagers?Published12 JuneAaron Mills from Kidderminster in Worcestershire was 18 years old when he died from meningitis in January 2026. He had recently started as a student at John Moores University in Liverpool and was home for the Christmas holidays.He had mild flu-like symptoms and on 30 December he went back to bed with a headache.Thirty minutes later his family heard screaming from his room."His eyes were open but he was fitting and unresponsive, he didn't know we were there," his mother told the BBC. Aaron's father said: "When the hospital told us it was meningitis I was confused, because I thought Aaron had been vaccinated, and we checked and he was."But we didn't know until afterwards that there are different strains of meningitis."Currently a separate vaccine covering different strains, the MenACWY vaccine, is offered routinely to teenagers aged 14. "The impact this has had on the family and friends is horrific....