World's first gonorrhoea vaccination to be rolled out on NHS
The NHS added that 'efforts should be made to ensure that the vaccine is offered to those at similar risk, including but not limited to transgender women and gender-diverse people assigned male at birth'.
Dr Amanda Doyle, the national director for primary care at NHS England, said it was 'a huge step forward for sexual health' and would 'reduce the rising rates of antibiotic resistance strains of the bacteria'.
The vaccine is an existing jab, known as 4CMenB, that is currently used to protect people against the meningococcal B disease, a serious bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and sepsis.
It is used in the routine childhood programme and given to babies at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year.
Those eligible will be contacted and able to get the jab through their local sexual health clinic from Aug 1. They will also be offered free jabs for mpox, the human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis A and B, while at the appointment, the NHS said.
Symptoms for gonorrhoea include green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when urinating and pain and discomfort in the rectum. For women, it can also cause lower abdominal pain or bleeding between periods.
But for many, especially women, the infection can be symptomless and lie undetected for years.
'Game changer'
The jab contains proteins from neisseria meningitidis, the bacteria that causes meningococcal disease, which is closely genetically related with neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes gonorrhoea.
The vaccine is between 32.7 to 42 per cent effective against gonorrhoea, according to studies, and will not eliminate the infection altogether.
But the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation said it would reduce spread, especially as a previous gonorrhoea infection is thought to offer little protection against future infections.
Richard Angell, the chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, described the jab as a 'game changer'.
'This alone could cut 40 per cent of new gonorrhoea cases,' he said.
The programme comes amid warnings that cases of gonorrhoea that are resistant to the antibiotic ceftriaxone – usually the first line of treatment – are on the rise in England.
This means the bacteria that causes the STI has developed the ability to survive and multiply even when exposed to the antibiotic.
Some cases have also been classed as extensively drug resistant (XDR) meaning the infection did not respond to ceftriaxone or the second line of treatment.
In March, UKHSA revealed there were 17 cases of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhoea between January 2024 and March 2025.
In the same period, there were nine XDR cases reported, compared to five cases between 2022 and 2023.
Dr Sema Mandal, a consultant epidemiologist and deputy director at UKHSA, said: 'This vaccination programme is a hugely welcome intervention at a time when we're seeing very concerning levels of gonorrhoea, including antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea.'
She added: 'Not only will this roll-out provide much needed protection to those that need it most, but it will make the UK the first country in the world to offer this protection and a world leader in protecting people against gonorrhoea.'
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