Children to Receive Free Meningitis Vaccine After Clinical Trials
The St. Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera (SPbNIIVS) announced a competition on February 2 for participation in clinical trials of the first domestic vaccine against meningococcal infection. Over 400 million rubles (approximately 4 million dollars at current rates) have been allocated for these studies, planned for 2026.
After successful completion of the trials, the vaccine is planned to be included in the National Preventive Vaccination Calendar. This will make vaccination of children free.
Doctors have long insisted on including this vaccine in the calendar. Initially, this was supposed to happen in 2025, but the Ministry of Health changed its approach, linking the inclusion of the vaccine with full localization of its production in Russia.
The Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) plans to launch production of the first multicomponent vaccine against meningococcal infections of serogroups A, B, C, W, and Y in 2027. Over 417 million rubles (approximately 4.2 million dollars at current rates) have been allocated for clinical trials assessing immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability in 2026.
Currently, vaccination against meningococcal infection is conducted either free of charge for epidemic indications or on a paid basis. According to information from Rospotrebnadzor, several vaccines are available in Russia.
- single-component Russian vaccine A;
- polysaccharide meningococcal A+C (France);
- «Mencevax ACWY» (Belgium);
- «Menjugate» (Germany);
- «MenQuadfi» and «Menactra» (USA).
The cost of vaccination with drugs that protect against several types of meningococcal infection at once in St. Petersburg ranges from 1,500 to 8,000 rubles (approximately 15 to 80 dollars at current rates).
