{"id":771600,"date":"2026-07-01T07:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771600\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T07:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:23:16","slug":"free-meningococcal-b-vaccine-available-to-tasmanian-infants-under-4m-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/771600\/","title":{"rendered":"Free meningococcal B vaccine available to Tasmanian infants under $4m program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vaccinations for the rare but potentially deadly meningococcal B disease are now free for all Tasmanian infants for the next four years, under a state-funded program.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian government launched the initiative on Wednesday, which will deliver free vaccinations for all infants from six weeks to two years old.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Infants are at the highest risk from Meningococcal B. (Reuters: Beawiharta.)<\/p>\n

The program has been funded through a $4 million investment by the Tasmanian government, and is available through general practices and some local council clinics.<\/p>\n

The state government first flagged the free vaccination program as a re-election promise made during last year’s election campaign.<\/p>\n

Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer said while the serious disease was preventable, vaccination costs had been a barrier for parents.<\/p>\n

“For many families, this would be a significant out-of-pocket cost to add this vaccination onto their existing programs,” Ms Archer said.<\/p>\n

“This is not only a preventative health measure, but it is also a cost-of-living measure for families as well.”<\/p>\n

Legana Medical Centre GP, Dr Gangapuram Prashanth Reddy, said the disease could be devastating for young children, and urged parents to speak to their GP’s about accessing the free vaccine.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Deepika Chitneni’s son receiving a vaccination. (ABC News: Hayden Smith)<\/p>\n

“It might be rare, but it can cause life-threatening consequences in children if it’s not immunised against,” Dr Reddy said.<\/p>\n

“With the rising cost-of-living pressure, this investment into the meningococcal B vaccine can break the financial barriers for many younger families across Tasmania.”<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Deepika Chitneni went to the Legana Medical Centre to get a second dose of the Meningococcal B vaccine for her young son.<\/p>\n

She said the free vaccine was “fantastic news”, after having already paid around $120 for the first dose.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Launceston resident Deepika Chitneni is grateful for the free program. (ABC News: Hayden Smith)<\/p>\n

Experts say infants are at the highest risk<\/p>\n

According to the Tasmanian Department of Health, people with meningococcal can become unwell extremely quickly, with symptoms including fever, headache, neck pain or stiffness, muscle aches, and vomiting.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Most children under 12 months would need three doses of the meningococcal B vaccine. (iStockPhoto\/saritwuttisan)<\/p>\n

Babies and infants often don’t have these symptoms but can be unsettled or drowsy, floppy and not feed.<\/p>\n

The strains that cause the disease can change over time, with meningococcal B now the most common circulating strain of the disease, Dr Shannon Melody, a specialist medical advisor with Tasmania’s public health service, said.<\/p>\n

“From 2020 onwards, we see between one-in-five cases of meningococcal disease per year,” she said.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“And in that period from 2020, all but two cases have been due to the B strain.”<\/p>\n

While the disease can affect anyone at any age, Dr Melody said infants and young children, adolescents, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were at the highest risk.<\/p>\n

Free vaccinations for the other strains \u2014 known as the meningococcal ACWY vaccine \u2014 are free through the National Immunisation Program for children aged 12 months and adolescents aged 12-14.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Meningococcal B is now the most common circulating strain of the disease. (ABC News: Grace Burmas\u00a0)<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian Department of Health said most children under 12-months-old would need three doses of the meningococcal B vaccine, while children who start vaccinations over 12 months old need two doses eight weeks apart.<\/p>\n

The meningococcal B vaccine is also free under the National Immunisation Program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under 12 months, and people aged 2 months or older with certain medical conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vaccinations for the rare but potentially deadly meningococcal B disease are now free for all Tasmanian infants for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,10950,17846,137,4270,366544,2801,4886],"class_list":["post-771600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bridget-archer","tag-free","tag-health","tag-jeremy-rockliff","tag-meningococcal-b","tag-tasmania","tag-vaccine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}