MenB Vac Service: further details published
The service specification for the Meningococcal B (MenB) Vaccination Service has now been published by NHS England. This follows the initial announcement of the service made by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 12th June.
DHSC and NHS England announced the service would be commissioned via a new, one-off Advanced service. The vaccination service is only being commissioned from community pharmacies.
It is targeted to protect young people heading to universities or residential further education settings ahead of the start of term in autumn 2026. The service is due to commence on 20th July 2026.
Download and read the service specification
Funding
Our negotiations on the funding for the service have now been concluded, with any pharmacy owners choosing to provide the service receiving:
- £10.06 per vaccine administered.
To recognise the work involved in establishing the service and to encourage uptake, pharmacies will also be eligible for:
- £300 once at least one vaccination has been administered; and
- £400 if 100 or more vaccinations are administered by the end of March 2027 (i.e. up to £700 in total).
The funding for the service is from the NHS vaccination budget, not the CPCF contract sum.
The vaccine will be centrally supplied to pharmacy owners, so no claim for reimbursement of vaccine costs will apply.
Who will be eligible for the vaccine?
- All Year 13 students (born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008);
- Under-25s entering university or residential further education for the first time; and
- International students under 25 years old entering their first year of university.
Pharmacy owners are being asked to administer two doses of the MenB vaccine to provide full protection to eligible patients.
Following administration of the first dose, a second dose should be administered at least 28 days later and ideally before term starts in September 2026.
The vaccine will be provided to pharmacies by NHS England from centrally procured stock.
The size of the eligible cohort of patients is estimated to be around 1 million people.
For further details on eligibility, read the service specification and the UKHSA and NHS England letter and annex on the MenB time limited vaccination offer.
Registration requirements
Pharmacy owners who decide to provide the service must first complete an electronic registration declaration.
The deadline for registration is 11.59pm on 20th July 2026.
However, pharmacy owners must register for the service by 6th July 2026 if they would like to start offering appointments on NBS from the service commencement date (20th July). In that case, as long as they have a minimum of one booking made via NBS from 20th July, the pharmacy will receive stock on time to administer it to the patient.
Registrations submitted after 20th July 2026 will not be accepted and the pharmacy will not be able to provide the service.
Further information
Read more about the service on our website
Read the UKHSA and NHS England letter and annex on the MenB time limited vaccination offer
Read more about the vaccine programme in a UKHSA blog
The Patient Group Direction for the service will be published shortly.
