Victoria funds meningococcal B vaccines for Year 10s

Victorian Year 10 students will soon be offered a free meningococcal B vaccine as part of a $9 million commitment from the State Government.
 
The vaccine will be available from 1 January next year through existing school immunisation programs via GPs, pharmacies, local council immunisation services, and Aboriginal health services.
 
The rollout will align with the state’s timing of the meningococcal ACWY vaccine given to Year 10s under the National Immunisation Program (NIP).
 
Making the announcement on Monday, Victoria Health Minister Harriet Shing would not confirm whether the vaccine program would continue beyond 2027. 
 
‘This free vaccination program will save lives and give parents the peace of mind that their teenager is protected from this awful disease,’ she said.
 
‘We’re continuing to advocate to the Commonwealth to consider adding this important vaccine to the NIP.’
 
RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Anita Muñoz welcomed the announcement but said it is only ‘halfway there’ and must be expanded to include infants.
 
‘We do need this to be funded for infants, because, similar to adolescents, there is a huge spike in the incidence of meningococcal B when children go to daycare,’ she said.
 
‘Unfortunately, we do have a system whereby expensive vaccines, such as meningococcal B for which you usually need two doses, can be out of the reach of a lot of the families in our community.
 
‘I don’t feel comfortable with the notion that something as fundamental to our health system as vaccination should be determined by the disposable income of a child’s parent.’
 
Dr Muñoz also urged national change and consistency when it comes to meningococcal B vaccinations, saying it is patients left feeling the weight of these gaps.
 
‘The [Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee] PBAC needs to continue having this conversation in terms of rolling this out nationally, I continue to find that the difference between what states offer and what is offered nationally leaves us with gaps that occur in our health system,’ she said.
 
‘I don’t think that Australians should have to bear the brunt of some of the intricacies of our political system.
 
‘We need to rise above things like just pure health economics and think of vaccines as a fundamental human right for all Australians and not something that really requires families, particularly struggling families, to have to come up with the funds for.’
 
The announcement took on special meaning for Ballarat’s Abby McGrath whose daughter, Emma-Kate, was only 19 years old when she lost her battle with meningococcal in 2017.
 
Emma got sick on a Wednesday night and within only 15 hours, she had passed away.
 
Ms McGrath has since established 4EK, an organisation promoting meningococcal awareness.
 
‘Losing a child is a horrible thing, and it’s devastating, and we constantly as a family have a massive hole in our hearts,’ she said in response to Monday’s announcement.
 
‘Emma doesn’t have a voice down on this earth, and so therefore I am her voice that’s down on this earth, and that’s been my job … to tell her story and to try and prevent this happening to other families.
 
‘I’ve gone to give up so often. I’ve said, “I can’t do this anymore. We’re not getting anywhere. This is taking forever”, and really got really down on the whole thing, but I forever had this little voice in my head, Emma saying, “Mama, don’t give up – you’ve got to do this”.’
 
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children’s health meningococcal B vaccinations vaccines Victoria