A series of educational webinars is being developed to provide essential information for practice nurses on meningococcal disease and the licensed meningococcal B vaccine.
The webinars will address educational needs and priorities identified by practice nurses in a focus group held in August 2014, which explored the kind of education and information that is useful when a new vaccine is introduced to the national immunisation programme. The focus group was organised by Novartis Vaccines in association with MA Healthcare, publishers of Independent Nurse.
Dr John Porter, medical affairs director at Novartis Vaccines, said: 'Practice nurses told us they can sometimes hear too late about new vaccines, so we are launching a new educational programme about our meningococcal B vaccine, which aims to inform practice nurses but also give them the chance to ask questions.'
The webinars are due for release in January, February and March 2015, and will be accessible via the Independent Nurse website.
In March 2014, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended adding the meningitis B vaccine to the UK childhood immunisation programme provided that the vaccine could be provided at a cost-effective price. The vaccine is available privately and on the NHS for those who are at high risk of invasive meningococcal disease, and is expected to be added to the routine childhood immunisation schedule soon.
To read the JCVI's position statement on the meningococcal B vaccine, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294245/JCVI_Statement_on_MenB.pdf.