Vaccine running out as parents panic
GENERAL practitioners are running out of the meningitis B jab because there has been so much demand by anxious parents.
Surgeries are turning away toddlers and young children or adding them to evergrowing waiting lists. Doctors have been told to reserve depleting stocks for babies — who are offered it on the NHS — as new supplies may not arrive until July.
Demand from parents has intensified since Wednesday when the family of two-year-old Faye Burdett, from Maidstone, Kent, released heart-breaking images of their little girl dying from meningitis B.
But there was already a national shortage of the vaccine as manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline failed to anticipate how many parents would want to vaccinate children privately.
Since the NHS started offering it to babies in September, thousands of parents contacted surgeries willing to pay hundreds of pounds to have older children protected as well.
High street chains including Boots and CityDoc, which runs immunisation clinics around the country, are not offering any more vaccinations. They have been told by GSK not to take any new bookings for children aged over one. Even when stocks do return, many parents will have to pay up to £450 per child — twice the standard price.
Surgeries buy the jab for £75 a dose but some are charging up to £150, working out at £450 for the course of three doses.
GSK has admitted that new supplies of the Bexsero vaccine may not be available until July, five months away.
The Oakley Surgery, a private practice in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, received 150 calls from worried parents in a 24-hour period and has now started a waiting list for the jab.
The Newhall Medical Practice, a private GP in Birmingham, has put a message on its website stating: ‘Please note that due to a national shortage, Newhall Medical Practice has no availability of the meningitis B vaccine at present.’
Dr Eoghan MacSweeney, of CityDoc, said: ‘The NHS decision to introduce a cut- off point created a surge in demand last year. The tragic death of Faye Burdett has raised awareness and demand from worried parents further.’
A GSK spokesman said: ‘Due to unexpected demand for Bexsero in 2015, we are experiencing supply constraints. Children who have started their vaccine course should still be able to receive the follow-up doses.’