We are currently receiving a high volume of enquiries about the Meningitis B vaccine. We do understand that this evolving situation is concerning for some but sadly our NHS contract limits what we can do. We received over 100 calls this week on top of the usual calls to practice and the reception team dealt with grumbles regarding phone waiting times. This post is for information purposes, to try and explain what options patients have.
We apologise if this post has landed badly - it has been a very busy week. We do these posts on top of the ‘day job’ and don’t have a communication or media degree between us. We try our best.
Please note:
The MenB vaccine is not available on the NHS for teenagers and is not provided by GP practices or School Immunisation Teams.
It is only routinely offered on the NHS to babies under 2 years of age. If your baby has not had the MenB vaccine and you wish them to have it, please contact the practice and we can organise this for you.
If you would like the MenB vaccine for a teenager or anyone over the age of 2, this will need to be arranged privately through providers such as high street pharmacies or private clinics.
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer this vaccine at our surgery to anyone outside of the NHS vaccination schedule.
More information on the MenB outbreak is available here: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/.../meningitis-b-outbreak-what.../
If you do not know whether or not you’ve had the vaccine, please first look on your NHS app, and only ring the practice if you are unable to find the information any other way. Excessive calls regarding this delays patients who need care from getting through quickly.
We can give the Men ACWY vaccine to anyone between the ages of 13 and 25 who have *not* had this previously at school. Please contact us for an appointment.
Thank you for your understanding.
