ACIP recommends booster doses of MenB vaccines for people at increased risk of MenB disease. Booster doses should be administered to people in the following groups as long as increased risk remains:
- People with functional or anatomic asplenia, including sickle cell disease
- People with persistent complement component deficiency (an immune system disorder)
- People who take a complement inhibitor (examples include eculizumab [Soliris] or ravulizumab [Ultomiris])
- Microbiologists who routinely work with meningococcal isolates
- Previously vaccinated people who are at risk during a meningococcal B disease outbreak
Because protective antibody levels produced by the primary series begin to wane within 1–2 years, the first booster dose is recommended one year after completion of the primary series, with subsequent booster doses every 2–3 years as long as increased risk remains. Previously vaccinated people identified by public health as being at risk during a meningococcal B outbreak should receive a booster dose if it has been at least one year since completion of their primary series, though depending upon the specific circumstances, public health may recommend a booster dose as little as 6 months after completion of the primary series.
Last reviewed:
March 24, 2024
ACIP voted to recommend MenB booster doses for people at ongoing increased risk of meningococcal serogroup B disease in June 2019 and the recommendation was published in 2020 (www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/rr/pdfs/rr6909a1-H.pdf). As long as you use Bexsero (MenB-4C) as the booster dose, the patient does not need to restart the primary series. This patient should be given a booster dose of Bexsero now and receive subsequent booster doses every 2–3 years.
Brands of MenB vaccine work differently and are not interchangeable. The only time ACIP recommends restarting the primary series is if the brand used for the primary series is not known or is unavailable.
Last reviewed:
March 24, 2024
During an outbreak of meningococcal B disease, swift protection of those at risk is prioritized and CDC subject matter experts do not recommend delaying vaccination in order to locate records. Student health services with documentation of MenB vaccination (including brand) of incoming students, either in a state immunization registry or in student health records, will be able to respond most efficiently to an outbreak.
Students whose primary series of MenB vaccine was completed at least 1 year before the outbreak (or as little as 6 months before the outbreak, if recommended by public health) should receive a single booster dose of the same brand of MenB vaccine. If the same brand is unavailable, they should restart the primary series with the available brand. If the brand of the primary series is unknown, administer a dose of the available product and counsel the recipient to request records of the primary series: if the primary series brand is different, then in order to ensure optimal protection, the recipient should be given a booster dose of the primary series product or complete a primary series with the available product after a minimum interval of 4 weeks.
Last reviewed:
March 24, 2024
Yes. MenB vaccines work differently and receiving mismatched MenB doses might result in inadequate protection. For this reason, documentation of the brand of vaccine (the two MenB products are Bexsero [MenB-4C] and Trumenba [MenB-FHbp]) is especially important. If a patient at high risk requires a booster dose and the brand of the primary series doses cannot be determined or is unavailable, then CDC recommends restarting the primary series with the available brand.
The first booster dose is recommended one year following completion of the primary series with subsequent booster doses every 2–3 years thereafter, as long as risk remains.
If a record shows that Penbraya (MenABCWY, Pfizer) was administered to a patient, this combination product contains MenB-FHbp (Trumenba) as its MenB component and subsequent doses should be Trumenba (or Penbraya, if indicated).
Last reviewed:
March 24, 2024
