22 July 2026

SDLP Belfast City Council Group Leader Councillor Séamas de Faoite has called on Health Ministers North and South to work together to deliver an all-island meningitis B vaccination programme.

He was speaking after the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the introduction of a meningitis B vaccination programme for young people of secondary school age.

Councillor de Faoite, who contracted meningitis B as a teenager, has written to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and Irish Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill calling for a coordinated all-island approach to the rollout of the vaccine.

Councillor Séamas de Faoite said:

“The recommendation from the JCVI is welcome and it is vital that it is acted on without delay to protect young people and other vulnerable groups. This advice has been a long time coming and, tragically, we continue to see young people lose their lives to this illness.

“I know first-hand the devastating impact meningitis B can have. I contracted it when I was 14 and became critically ill. Without rapid treatment the outcome could have been very different. I spent several days in intensive care, months recovering and I still live with the effects today.

“I have written to Health Ministers Mike Nesbitt and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill urging them to work together to deliver an all-island vaccination programme. Meningitis B does not recognise borders and by working together we can roll out this vaccine as quickly as possible and give every young person the best possible protection from this disease.”