A pharmacy in Birmingham delivered approximately 1,100 first doses of the meningitis B (MenB) jab to students from their on-campus vaccination van this freshers’ week. 

Selly Pharmacy, a former Jhoots branch located a short walk from the University of Birmingham’s campus, was purchased by co-owners Sushil Melwani and Maria Castedo in April.  

Read more: Three-quarters of eligible year 13s yet to have MenB vaccine 

Since then, the pair have been in “constant communication” with the university of 40,000 students, recently opening a second branch, a private pharmacy located in the heart of campus. 

The university campus previously hosted a vaccination van to support them through Covid. When the idea to reinstate the van to deliver MenB vaccinations was raised, the university, pharmacy team and NHS England were all onboard. 

Read more: Students almost twice as likely to ask AI for advice than a pharmacist 

“NHS England were really supportive, they provided us with the van,” Melwani told C+D. “The university were really behind it with their communications. They made sure we had a prominent space for the van, very close to where students collected their passes.”  

“It was led by Maria, who was the pharmacist. We had vaccinators supporting us from NHS England and support from colleagues at the branch who were checking eligibility and collecting patient data and forms while Maria was vaccinating in the van.” 

Vital second dose 

Students are now returning to Selly Pharmacy’s permanent branches for their vital second doses, which are being promoted though the university’s communication channels. 

When asked about the response to the vaccination van, Melwani told C+D it had been “amazing”. 

“There were a lot of patients that had a phobia of needles, we could dedicate time to them in the van,” he said.

“It could really work” 

Melwani told C+D that the presence of the van on campus was especially beneficial to international students, as many were not aware of the added risk that MenB posed to students. 

While there are no current plans for the van to return to campus Melwani is confident the initiative would transfer well to other community settings. 

“If you have a prominent local population with health priorities, it could really work” 

Read more: Pharmacies deliver quarter of a million MenB vaccines 

It comes as the UK Health Services Authority’s first interim report on the coverage of the one-off  MenB vaccination offer revealed that almost 75% of young people eligible for the vaccine have not had the jab. 

And it follows research by Chlora revealing that students are almost twice as likely to ask AI for health advice than a pharmacist.