00:02Norlia Sire-Peterson's son Levi was just 16 when he died after falling ill with meningococcal
00:09bee in September last year.
00:11He had his whole life ahead of him.
00:12He was excited to get his braces off.
00:14He loved playing basketball.
00:16He was going to do his deb in March.
00:18Since Levi's death, she's campaigned tirelessly for a vaccine to be made freely available
00:23to prevent other deaths.
00:25You know, he came home at 4.30pm that afternoon, and the next morning he was dead by 7.40am.
00:31And that is quite shocking.
00:34And that could happen to anyone.
00:36From next year, all Victorian Year 10 students will be able to be vaccinated against meningococcal
00:41bee for free as part of a $9.4 million program included in this year's state budget.
00:47But it's just for one year.
00:49Those conversations are continuing with the Commonwealth around access to further funding.
00:55We can't have a vaccination program offered only for a year, and I would doubt very much
00:59that anyone would be so foolish to not continue it.
01:02While vaccines for most strains of meningococcal are free for children under the National Immunisation
01:08Program, the bee strain isn't included.
01:11The vaccine usually requires at least two doses, and unsubsidised can cost hundreds of dollars.
01:18I don't feel comfortable with the notion that something as fundamental to our health system
01:22as vaccination should be determined by the disposable income of a child's parents.
01:28Abby McGrath's daughter, Emma Case, was 19 when she died from meningococcal in 2017.
01:34Her charity has since funded the vaccinations of 250 high school students in Ballarat.
01:39Losing a child is a horrible thing, and it's devastating.
01:46Four cases of meningococcal disease have been reported in Victoria this year, with 18 cases
01:51reported in the past 12 months.
01:53Last year the opposition pledged that if elected it would provide ongoing funding to vaccinate
01:58infants and year 10 students.
02:00And it just shows the priorities of the government where they can't do this, they can't do it
02:05properly because they've run out of money.
02:08The vaccine is already free for children in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
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