Students have begun to receive a meningitis B vaccine following a deadly outbreak of the bug in Kent.
Around 5,000 students from the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent will be offered the jab, alongside courses of antibiotics.
It comes after two students died and 18 more cases were being investigated by the UKHSA following an outbreak of meningitis linked to a nightclub.
The first student to be given his jab at the University of Kent campus Sports Hall 2 was Oliver Contreras.
The 22-year-old postgraduate law student said: “I’m pretty happy that I’ve got one now.”
Mr Contreras, from Brighton, said his father really wanted him to get it before heading home.
“My tenancy ends this weekend, so I wanted to make sure I got it on time,” he said.
He added he was “not so happy” about the university letting people know “a bit too late”, adding: “All these social events went ahead on Sunday, and I was at one of them, and I kind of wish I’d got more information before all that.”
A queue has formed outside the sports hall for other students waiting for their jabs.
Divine Nweze, an architecture student, was one of the first to arrive for the jab.
He said: “As soon as I got the email, my parents just told me, get up and get my vaccine. They won’t even let me go home because of what’s going on.
“The vaccine rollout should have been done earlier, but now that it’s available, I feel like it is all getting done, so that’s the main thing.”
He added his parents will let him come home once he receives the vaccination.
It remains unclear how students who have already left campus will get a vaccine, though it is understood they should be able to get one through their GP practice.
A letter to University of Kent students, seen by the Press Association, said the menB vaccine will continue to be available to eligible students on campus all week.
“If you live in Canterbury campus halls of resident but have already returned home, arrangements are currently being developed to ensure that you can receive the vaccines nearer to home – further information on how you can receive the vaccination will be provided in due course,” it added.
The two-dose vaccine course is being given alongside antibiotics as an “additional precautionary measure to help protect students from becoming seriously unwell with meningitis if you are exposed in the future”, the letter said.
The chief medical officer for Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, Kate Langford, said students have “responded brilliantly” to their invitation to get vaccinated, adding: “This vaccine is highly effective against meningitis B. Our anticipation is it’s effective against the subtype that we’re finding.”
Five new cases of meningitis have now been reported in Kent, taking the total number being investigated by health officials to 20.
Of these, nine cases have been confirmed in the lab and 11 remain under investigation.
Meningitis symptoms can develop quickly, so it’s important to act immediately if you spot them.
— NHS (@NHSuk) March 17, 2026
More info ➡️ https://t.co/FlXxJRTbqp pic.twitter.com/xUckcW0JNc
Six of the confirmed cases have been confirmed as the meningitis B strain.
Canterbury Christ Church University, also in Kent, has confirmed a meningitis case among its students, meaning confirmed or suspected cases have been reported at two universities and five schools.
GPs across the country have now been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury from March 5-7, plus students from the University of Kent.
This is to ensure anyone who has left campus can make sure they get the right treatment.
So far, more than 2,500 doses have been given to students, close contacts and others – including some of those who attended Club Chemistry between March 5-7.
The number of cases is expected to rise because the incubation period for the infection to when symptoms appear is two to 14 days.
The outbreak is being viewed by experts as unprecedented owing to the high number of cases appearing in such a short space of time.
🆕 It's been confirmed that some of the meningitis cases linked to Club Chemistry in Canterbury, Kent are MenB. pic.twitter.com/BWJK8uXqab
— UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) March 17, 2026
The UKHSA stressed there is plenty of NHS stocks of menB vaccines after pharmacies reported they were struggling to obtain stock for people who want to pay privately.
Regarding NHS stock, a UKHSA spokeswoman told the Press Association on Wednesday: “There are sufficient menB vaccine stocks.
“We will work with local resilience partners to ensure effective distribution.”
All reported cases so far have a link to Kent, according to the UKHSA. At least one person who fell ill and had links to Kent attended a London hospital.
This person had “no community contacts in London”, the UKHSA said, suggesting the risk of spread in the capital is low.
Meanwhile, French authorities said a person who was admitted to hospital with meningitis in France with links to the Kent outbreak is now in a “stable” condition.
The French Ministry of Health told PA no other cases of meningitis linked to the outbreak in Kent have been reported in France.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer expressed his condolences.
He said: “Our deepest condolences are with the families and friends of the two young people who have died following the outbreak of meningitis B in Kent. Others are seriously ill. This will be a deeply difficult time for their loved ones.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Breakfast: “What’s worried us about the Canterbury outbreak is the pace and extent of the spread of the disease.
“That is unprecedented, and that’s why we are being so proactive in the provision of antibiotics, because they’re an effective treatment, but also standing up vaccination at a pace and in a way that we wouldn’t normally do.
“I hope that that will give some reassurance to people.”
Asked if there was concern the outbreak could spread to other parts of the country as students leave Canterbury, Mr Streeting said: “No, and lots of students from Kent have already gone home.
“It’s exam week at the university this week, so there are still quite a few students around sitting their exams.
“Lots of students will have gone home, and that’s fine. That’s okay.
“What we need people to do is to think through in terms of their individual situations – were they at Club Chemistry on March 5, 6 or 7? If the answer to that question is yes, the sensible thing to do is to access antibiotics.”
For people seeking vaccines privately, Boots has implemented a queuing system to enter its website, with a warning that demand for its menB vaccination service is currently high.
Superdrug has also created a waiting list, with a note on its website informing customers of a “national shortage” of the jab. It said it is “working with suppliers to access further stock”.
Mr Streeting said he understood why people would want to access vaccines privately but people do not need to, adding there was plenty of NHS stock for those who have been told they need a jab.
UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said on Tuesday that officials were looking at a “super-spreader event”.
She added: “I can say that in my 35 years working in medicine, in healthcare and hospitals, this is the most cases I’ve seen in a single weekend with this type of infection.
“It’s the explosive nature that is unprecedented here – the number of cases in such a short space of time.”
Laboratory scientists are urgently trying to work out if the spread is caused by a possible mutant strain of menB.
The genome of the menB strain identified in the outbreak is undergoing whole genome sequencing to see if there are any differences from known strains.
It will also be tested against available menB vaccines, though experts stressed people should get a jab if eligible.
