Responding to statistics from the UK Health Security Agency showing that 28.2% of eligible young people have had their first dose of the MenB vaccine, Henry Gregg, Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association said:
"We’re proud that once again, pharmacies have been able to create a service reaching significant numbers of people in a few weeks from a standing start. That is a strength of the pharmacy network.
"The government must do much more to promote this vital service to help ensure as many as possible of those who are eligible benefit from protection against MenB.
"This should also include universities promoting this campaign strongly to those living in residential accommodation.
"To improve uptake further, we should make this an annual campaign rather than an ad-hoc, standalone event, engraining it as a key vaccine for young people to have.
"MenB is an extremely serious illness and we must do all we can to minimise the risk of tragic outbreaks that we have already seen this year in Kent, Berkshire and Dorset."
