Students Urged to Get Free MenB Vaccine Before University Move
Public health officials say the jab could help prevent serious outbreaks in student accommodation
Young people in North East Lincolnshire are being encouraged to get a free MenB vaccine before heading off to university or moving into student accommodation this summer.
Geoffrey Barnes, deputy director for Public Health at North East Lincolnshire Council, says:
“People going away from home and mixing in things like university halls of residence are at increased risk for conditions like meningitis."
"The close proximity, the nature of the lifestyle people have in those environments will greatly reduce the risk of a serious meningitis B infection.”
He adds, “I would strongly encourage people to go online, book their meningitis vaccination, and therefore reduce that risk in the years ahead."
"If we can get the large majority of our students to take the vaccination, it's unlikely that we will see anything on the kind of scale that we saw earlier this year."
"So please, yeah, please, if you can get the vaccination, do so. Please encourage your children to go ahead and get the vaccination.”
Geoffrey also points out, “I think lots of people that age can feel, I don't know, quite immortal and it might not be for them, but parents can have that ability to persuade them.”
Anyone under twenty five starting higher or residential further education can get the jab from local pharmacies through a walk-in service running until the end of December.