Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said there is “plenty of stock of vaccine supply in the country”, as he seeks to reassure the public amid an “unprecedented” meningitis outbreak in Kent.
Some pharmacists have warned of shortages of vaccines, with high street pharmacy Boots implementing a queuing system for customers to enter the vaccination service page of its website, with a warning that demand for its MenB jab is currently high.
Superdrug has also created a waiting list for the vaccine, with a note on its website informing customers of a “national shortage”. It said it is “working with suppliers to access further stock”.
Streeting appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed there are now 20 cases of meningitis being investigated in Kent.
Nine of those cases have been confirmed, of which six are the meningitis B strain, known as MenB. Two students have died after contracting the bacterial infection.
The health secretary told Ed Balls and Susanna Reid that there is “plenty of stock of vaccine supply in the country”, although the government are not currently advising those elsewhere in the UK to pay for private vaccinations.
Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was currently no stock of meningitis B vaccines for people to pay for privately.
He said pharmacies were used to “bridging the gap between what the NHS offers and what patients want”.
“Unfortunately, that supply has run out, and most of our distributors, wholesalers have no stock. And whilst we’re hearing that there may be some stock in the system, it is taking its time to come into our fridges. There’s no date of resupply,” he said.
But speaking about the issue on GMB, Streeting said: “On any product line, in any pharmacy or shop, they keep stocks based on usual patterns of demand. It’s not surprising that in recent days demand is higher than it would be.”
When asked if it was just temporary, Streeting added: “Yes, in terms of the underlying supply, there is plenty available. That is the one thing I’m not worried about.”
From Wednesday, 5,000 students in halls at Kent University will be able to access MenB vaccines in a targeted campaign.
On the prospect of a wider, national NHS vaccine roll-out, Streeting said: “We are going to approach that in an evidence-based way, I don’t want to do that in a knee-jerk way.”
Streeting said that the government are currently seeking advice from the JCVI, an independent body of scientists who make recommendations to government, to look at what has happened in Canterbury and issue fresh advice.
This could involve making the MenB vaccine more widely available through the NHS, something that GMB guest Michael Rosen called for earlier in the programme.
The author and poet lost his son, Eddie, 26 years ago. He urged the government to “have a look again” at giving people MenB vaccines.
“If it’s less effective, it doesn’t mean it’s not effective if you’re giving people the vaccine now,” he said.
The majority of young people born before 2015 are not protected against meningitis B unless they have had the jab privately. It was introduced on the NHS for babies in 2015.
Anyone can get meningitis, but it is most commonly caught by babies, young children, teenagers and young adults.
Unlike flu and colds, meningitis is spread through close personal contact, such as kissing or sharing drinks and vapes.
Following the recent outbreak, GPs across the country have now been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone who visited a nightclub in Canterbury from March 5-7, plus students from the University of Kent.
Over 2,500 doses of antibiotics have already been given out to students, which are over 90% effective.
People who were at Club Chemistry on March 5, 6, or 7 have been advised to come forward to receive these.
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