The Government is still in talks with a drugs company over the price of the jab but figures released by the Department of Health reveal that 1,065 people, including 613 children, have contracted meningitis B since it was licensed for use. Scientists recommended that the vaccine should be given to all infants. Yet almost a year on, despite the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommending Bexsero – the Department of Health has not been able to agree a price with makers Novartis since negotiations began last August. Last night Luciana Berger, the shadow minister for public health, warned that lives were being lost while the Government haggles over the cost of the vaccine. She said: ‘In the time that has passed since this life-saving vaccine was licensed, experts say more than 1,000 cases of meningitis B have been diagnosed and there are likely to have been around 100 deaths and many more children left with life changing consequences.’