Hundreds of students queue at university after rollout of meningitis B vaccine

Hundreds of students queued to receive a meningitis B vaccine at the University of Kent following a deadly outbreak of the bug in the area.

Around 5,000 students from the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent are being offered the jab, alongside courses of antibiotics.

During the morning, the Canterbury campus was notably quiet with cafes and sports halls nearly deserted as students fled the city.

But within 20 minutes of the vaccination centre opening, and eligible students receiving the invitation email, a queue wrapping around the building had formed.

Security walked along the queue handing out blue face masks and telling students that they would not be allowed into the building without one.

Nurses wearing plastic aprons and face masks awaited the students inside Sports Hall 2.

One student who arrived about an hour after the vaccination centre opened was shocked by the length of the queue.

Canter Bonny, 19, said: “I didn’t expect it to be this long this quickly and it’s not getting any shorter. I may have to leave and come back again tomorrow.

“It’s really scary because the meningitis outbreak is very close to my house and my mum said I should come and get the jab.”

He said his family were worried about him staying on campus.

The computer science student said: “My mum has called me every day telling me to come home. I’ve come here today because she wants me to have the right precautions first before coming home.”

A passing student said the estimated queue time was an hour at that point.

Another student was pleased with how quickly the university responded with a vaccination programme.

Brandon, 22, said: “I wasn’t expecting it to be rolled out this quickly. It was only a couple of days ago they announced they were going to bring the vaccination scheme to students.

“I was expecting it to come at the beginning of next term, so it was a very pleasant shock to get it so quickly.

“The second I got the email, I got my shoes on and left the house and as I was walking through campus I saw so many people out the door with their student ID. It was really reassuring to see.”

The physics student added: “Most people are heading off this weekend if they haven’t already gone home.”

Another student in the area said the university was slow to respond to the crisis and called for better hospital provisions in the city.

Leonardo Veiga, 20, said: “On Sunday when everyone found out on the news, before the university even emailed us, I think there was a big panic.

“It was completely reasonable panic because, why are we finding out from a news outlet when we’re literally in the town where it’s been affected?

“If this isn’t a sign to get A&E in Canterbury, which is 24/7, then I don’t know what is. It’s so sickening.”

Mr Veiga, a business management student at the university, decided that he would not get the vaccination today.

He said: “Today’s panic mode. I’m going to see how I feel and then probably get the jab tomorrow.”

Freshers are seeing their first year at university disturbed by the outbreak.

Dylan, 18, said: “I had a headache on Monday, so I was a bit worried, but I feel better now. I was still in bed when we got the email so I really rushed out to get here.”

The film student said: “I wasn’t worried about staying on campus, but I was worried about coursework. I have to do that on campus and we couldn’t come in because of the outbreak.

“Now we have another way of doing it and using Teams calls but it would have been much better if it was in-person.”