The UK government has launched a one-off meningitis B vaccination programme targeting approximately one million young people, with the NHS set to offer GSK plc's (GSK.L) Bexsero vaccine to Year 13 pupils and those under 25 entering university for the first time this autumn. The programme follows an outbreak of meningococcal B disease in Kent earlier in 2026, and is designed to protect those assessed to be at highest risk while officials determine whether a broader immunisation campaign is warranted.
The two-dose Bexsero regimen will be administered through the NHS, making GSK the primary listed company with direct exposure to the contract. Pfizer (PFE), whose competing meningococcal B vaccine Trumenba is also licensed in the UK, is not named as a supplier for the national programme. Scientific analysis published in Eurosurveillance confirmed that the outbreak strain was predicted to be covered by both UK-licensed MenB vaccines — Bexsero and Trumenba — though the NHS rollout specifies Bexsero.
The Kent outbreak, reported in mid-March 2026, was described as unprecedented in scale, with 21 cases of invasive meningococcal disease recorded in South East England and a large-scale, multi-sectorial response triggered [Source: Eurosurveillance]. Cases were aged 18 to 27 years, with a median age of 19; 13 were university students, ten of whom attended the same institution, and almost all cases were linked to a local nightclub before illness onset [Source: Eurosurveillance]. As of 30 March 2026, more than 11,000 people had received the first dose of Bexsero through the outbreak response programme [Source: Eurosurveillance]. The World Health Organization's European office confirmed the outbreak and the targeted vaccination response.
The national rollout follows a formal request by Health Secretary Wes Streeting on 17 March 2026 asking the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to reconsider the case for extending MenB vaccination to older children. The JCVI had previously declined to recommend routine vaccination for teenagers in 2014, having assessed it as not cost-effective at that time. The UK introduced routine infant MenB vaccination in September 2015 — the first country in the world to do so — with children born after 1 May 2015 receiving three doses at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and one year old. That programme has been associated with a 75% reduction in infections among vaccinated groups.
The Kent outbreak also generated significant private demand for Bexsero ahead of the national programme announcement, with pharmacy chain Superdrug reporting a 65-fold increase in booking demand for the vaccine following the outbreak, alongside a reported national shortage. GSK has previously indicated it was prepared for a potential expansion of the meningitis vaccine schedule in the UK.
Sources: Sky News, Bloomberg, BBC News, Eurosurveillance, The Pharmaceutical Journal, Pharmaceutical Technology, World Health Organization