Meningitis: Private stocks of vaccine running out amid unprecedented demand

Currently only babies aged between two and five months are offered the vaccine by the NHS

GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement that 'unexpected global demand' in 2015 meant they would be 'experiencing supply constraints' for the first six months of 2016 (Getty)

Private stocks of the meningitis B vaccine are running out across the country amid unprecedented demand from parents anxious to protect their children from the potentially deadly disease.

As the family of Faye Burdett published photographs of the dying two-year-old girl covered in a deep red rash and former England rugby star Matt Dawson spoke of his son’s narrow escape this week, more than half a million people have signed a petition calling for the Government to immunise all children.

Currently only babies aged between two and five months are offered the vaccine by the NHS. It is available privately – at a total cost of up to £480 – but clinics have started to run out.

Drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which makes the vaccine, said in a statement that “unexpected global demand” in 2015 meant they would be “experiencing supply constraints” for the first six months of this year.

“Although vaccination through the NHS childhood programme has been prioritised and is unaffected, we have unfortunately had to ask private clinics temporarily to not start new courses of vaccination,” GSK said.

“Children who have already started their course of the vaccine privately should still be able receive their follow up doses.

“We know the unexpectedly high demand for the vaccine reflects the importance parents have placed on protecting their children from meningitis B. We hope to have improving supply from summer 2016 and we are working hard to increase capacity in 2017.”

The charity Meningitis Now said it had been inundated with request from people trying to get hold of the vaccine.

“I think there’s been massive demand in the last few days because a lot more people are now aware of meningitis B,” a spokesman said.

“We’ve had a lot of people contacting us, saying they cannot get the vaccine. It’s one of those Catch-22s – now people know about it but they cannot get it.

“Stocks are running low in private clinics and things like that, but on our Facebook page various private clinics and surgeries have been posting that you can still get it here. It really depends how many of the stocks have been used and how much has been ordered around the country.”

Local government worker Phil Cone, 37, of Sidcup, was given the last rites after catching meningitis at the age of 21.

Now the father of two boys, aged five and two, he has been searching without success for the vaccine.

Mr Cone said the Government should make it available on the NHS to all children, given the disease is one of the biggest killers of children under five. And he said other companies should be allowed to produce the vaccine, given GSK could not maintain supplies.

“Meningitis is very, very serious – it can kill people. When any child dies, it really affects me because I feel ‘how am I here and these kids have not survived?’” he said.

“If you are in power and able to authorise that [the vaccination of all children] then you should say ‘you know what, I don’t care what it costs’ and you should roll this out across the board.

“This is just a call to arms for all parents to pressure on the Government for this vaccine.”