The move comes a day after queues at the main vaccination centre stretched back for half a mile on Friday, with some students left waiting in line for seven hours
NHS bosses have brought in extra staff to work at its largest meningitis vaccination centre following reports students were queuing for up to seven hours for the jab.
More than 700 people were estimated to have been treated at the pop-up clinic inside the University of Kent’s sports centre on Saturday morning. Some waited outside from as early as 5am, but the queue moved considerably faster than in previous days and by 11.15am there was no queue, allowing patients to go straight inside.
It came after officials announced the number of cases has risen to 34, up from 29 on Friday. They include 23 confirmed infections and 11 under investigation, as well as the deaths of 18-year-old Juliette Kenny and a 21-year-old University of Kent student.
READ MORE: BBC Breakfast interrupted for meningitis breaking newsREAD MORE: BBC Sport star left in coma and nearly dies in meningitis battle as symptoms shared
On Friday, queues at the same centre stretched back for half a mile before around 200 people at the back, including some who had been waiting for three hours, had to be turned away. Among them was second year student Archie Corke, 20, from Whitstable, Kent, who returned early on Saturday morning for another go.
He said: “We got here yesterday about 12.30pm and the queue was huge. We got in the back of it and waited. But at 3.15pm they stopped the queue in front of us.” Asked if he found it frustrating he said: “A little bit, but we got here at 8am today. We’ve only had to wait two hours. It’s moved a lot quicker than yesterday.”
Another student who got the jab with a friend on Saturday morning, said: “We arrived at 7am and there were still 30 to 40 people ahead of us. We waited for two hours until the centre opened at 9am.
“I was at Club Chemistry that night so I wanted to get the vaccine. We’ve had the antibiotics already. We just want to be safe.”
The student, who asked not to be named, added: “We know someone, a friend, who was ill. She had to have a spinal tap. She was in hospital for six days, but they now think it was something else and not contagious. She’s fine now.”
Patients are attending four vaccination clinics, including two in Canterbury and others in Ashford and Faversham. Health officials are considering opening a fifth this weekend to meet demand. Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura Video, Acting Vice Chancellor posted on university social media on Friday: “This has been an incredibly difficult week for our university community. My deepest sympathies go out to everyone affected.
“We are all feeling the devastating loss of a student, and we continue to hold those in hospital in our thoughts, along with their loved ones. I want to thank the NHS and all those caring for our students and staff.” She added: “Public health advice remains clear. Meningitis spreads through close and prolonged contact, and those most at risk are being contacted directly. Please continue to follow NHS and UKHSA guidance.
“We know this has been a worrying time. Support is available, and I encourage anyone who needs it to reach out. Thank you for the care and compassion you have shown one another. Please stay vigilant and continue to look out for each other.”
Earlier on Friday, a public health official had warned that the terrifying outbreak could get even worse. Asked whether the outbreak may not yet have peaked, Professor Dr Anjan Ghosh, Kent County Council Director of Public Health, said: “I would say yes to that. There might be more cases. We don’t know and we won’t know for sure until next week. It takes about four weeks for this thing to really subside.”
Prof Ghosh said the most likely scenario now was that small outbreaks would develop in parts of the country outside Kent due to students returning home for Easter. He said: “If they were incubating the disease when they left and then caused some cases, there may be small sporadic household clusters elsewhere.”
The disease’s incubation period can be up to 10 days. Prof Ghosh added that this outbreak was highly unusual for its speed and intensity. He explained: “It’s never happened that we’ve had so many cases at such a pace. It could be there is something different about this particular strain, but that is only my personal opinion.”
He added that the bulk of cases were young people, with the median age around 18 to 26. Officials have set up contact tracing for more than 10,000 people after identifying a “super-spreader event” at a nightclub in Canterbury earlier this month.
On Thursday, officials widened the offer of vaccines and medicines to anyone who visited Club Chemistry in the city from March 5 to 15, in a bid to stop the spread. It emerged that an infected patient may have returned to the nightclub for a second visit, potentially infecting other clubbers. Previously, only those who visited on March 5, 6 and 7 were included in the offer, but officials cannot be sure whether the patient was infectious on their second visit.
Images posted on Club Chemistry’s Facebook account since the nights in question show young clubbers partying while holding each other and even kissing – one of the main ways the bacterial disease is thought to spread. Some 6,500 doses of the meningitis vaccine have so far been delivered to Kent and Medway from the national stock. Officials requested another 5,000 doses yesterday morning and say they have plenty of supplies.
Asked whether the vaccination programme should be rolled out to include younger teenagers, Clare Winslade, consultant in Health Protection, UK Health Security Agency South East, said the decision would be made by a panel of government experts. She said: “They have been asked to consider it. I think it’s really important we wait for the expert committee.”
