The Isle of Man has sufficient stocks of meningitis vaccines and had a “very low” risk of an outbreak when students returned for Easter, the Cabinet Office said.
In a written answer to Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh, Minister David Ashford said there had been “no change to our vaccination policy or to the Island’s preparedness arrangements”.
He stressed that meningitis is “not one single illness” and “not all causes are vaccine-preventable”.
The island follows the UK routine immunisation programme, including Meningitis B for infants and Meningitis ACWY for adolescents.
Mr Ashford said the MenB vaccine “is only effective for a few years, which is why it is given to younger children”. MenACWY “is effective for much longer”.
On herd immunity, he explained that MenACWY “does contribute to wider population protection”, but MenB “is not relied upon to generate herd protection”.
Where gaps exist, he said they are “gaps in uptake rather than gaps in vaccine availability”. He urged members to “avoid amplifying anti-vaccine rhetoric which risks undermining public confidence”.
The minister also said the recent outbreak in Kent has not impacted risk locally.