Meningitis LIVE: Outbreak spreads to London as cases rise to 27 including student in capital

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  • March 19, 2026
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Hundreds queued at a campus sports centre amid a high demand for MenB jabs, but officials closed the queue because it had hit capacity, as keeping to staffing hours meant the clinic needed to finish by 5pm.

The university confirmed on their Facebook page that the clinic would reopen from 9am to 5pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, asking people to be in the queue by 2pm, adding: “The team have been working incredibly hard to vaccinate as many people as possible.”

As of 5pm on Thursday around 1,600 people have been vaccinated, according to the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System, with around 8,500 antibiotics also being distributed according to NHS figures.

Masked students in a queue in Canterbury

PA Wire

The University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University have already confirmed to have people infected with meningitis, as have five schools in the county. At least one case has been confirmed in London.

The vaccine rollout has now been expanded to include anyone who attended the Club Chemistry venue in Canterbury from March 5 to March 15, where the outbreak is believed to have originated.

Year 12 and 13 pupils at affected schools, students and staff at both universities, and close contacts of confirmed or suspected cases will also be eligible, as will those previously eligible for antibiotics.

A student receiving an injection in the sports hall at the University of Kent campus in Canterbury

PA Wire

Health Secretary Wes Streeting during a visit to the University of Kent campus in Canterbury on Thursday

PA Wire

More vaccination centres will open across Kent on Friday following the expansion, with other sites located at Faversham Health Centre, the Vicarage Lane Clinic in Ashford, the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.