GPs run short of the meningitis vaccine

There are growing fears that the meningitis student vaccination campaign is in disarray because of vaccine supply problems.

New students are being urged to go to their GPs to be vaccinated against the disease before they begin their studies. But Kenneth Harden, chairman of the British Medical Association's Scottish GP committee, has warned GPs of distribution difficulties, which means they will be unable to meet demand.

He accused the government of making political pronouncements without talking to those involved. He advised students to wait until the end of September to contact their GPs, or to go to the student health centre at the start of term.

"There's no doubt that in an ideal world, it would be preferable to be immunised beforehand, because students are at the biggest risk at the start of term. But if they're immunised immediately, that's obviously not too bad."

The Scottish Conservatives' spokesperson on health, former lecturer Mary Scanlon, said she had been contacted by a number of concerned GPs. She has tabled a parliamentary question asking whether sufficient meningitis A and C vaccine is available for current and projected needs.