THE charity Meningitis Now has welcomed the news that Boots will re-introduce a limited quantity of the Meningococcal (Men B) vaccination, after a petition calling for it to be offered to all children under five failed to sway Farnham MP and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The Men B vaccine was added to the NHS childhood immunisation programme in September 2015, but controversially, is only offered to babies born on or after May 1, 2015, meaning that thousands of under fives in the UK are not protected from this life-threatening disease.

The charity says recent data published by Public Health England shows that 57 per cent of all Men B cases in 2014/2015 occurred in children under five.

Boots UK first launched the service in November 2015 and offer the vaccine privately, at £95 per dose. The service stalled in January 2015 due to a global shortage.

Liz Brown CEO at Meningitis Now said:“We welcome the fact that supplies of the life-saving Men B vaccine is returning to Boots UK and other private clinics and hope that this will put downward pressure on pricing and reduce the over-inflated fees being asked in some practices.

“While we recognise and acknowledge that there is a large group of parents that are willing and able to pay for the vaccine privately, we know that there are many that can’t afford to pay.

“In April 2016 the government decided to ignore the wishes of 823,000 people who had signed the parliamentary petition calling for the Meningococcal B (Men B) vaccine to be extended to all under fives. Add your child’s name to our open letter to Jeremy Hunt and give children a voice in the ongoing campaign to get them protected: www.meningitisnow.org/addyourvoice”