Amish Patel is a pharmacist from Kent. He has been speaking to the BBC about the recent boom in vaccine requests - and the difficulty he's having finding them.

"We've seen a huge increase in inquiries for the meningitis vaccine, from having maybe one or two calls a week at best to now 10-15 calls in a day," he says.

"It's a huge, huge increase. Currently we have no stock of meningitis vaccines left and the bigger problem is we can't also order any more.

"All the wholesalers are also showing no stock and to add further on to that, we don't know when stock is coming back in.

"At the moment, it's a case of just keep on refreshing our order pages and seeing if stock is back available."

This afternoon, health secretary Wes Streeting announced in the Commons that the government will begin a "targeted" vaccination programme for students living in halls at the University of Kent.

He says the UKHSA will provide further advice on other cohorts, also in the coming days.

Image source, Cyrstal MacPherson

A University of Kent student tells the BBC she is not planning to go out for a while following a meningitis outbreak.

Cyrstal MacPherson, who studies film, says she ordered masks when she found out a fellow student had died from the illness on Sunday.

"I would rather stay at home," she says, adding that she has plans to isolate with her sister who is also a student at the university if things get worse.

"People have died - it is quite crazy".

MacPherson says it is her birthday next week, though she worries she may not be able to go out and celebrate.

"I hope with antibiotics everything gets nipped in the bud," says the 21-year-old.

University of Kent student Isabel Kenny has been telling us what the last 48 hours have felt like.

She says yesterday was “really anxious”, explaining: “I didn’t really sleep, it was the first thing I thought about when I got up. In the back of my head I’m nervous that I’ll see that more people have gone to hospital. Hopefully not.”

She was invited to get antibiotics yesterday and went straight away: “I did have to queue for quite a bit… everyone was wearing masks, everyone was social distancing - it was a really strange day yesterday.”

With today’s confirmation that the outbreak is the Group B strain, Isabelle says she and her friends suddenly realised they weren’t protected.

She says she’s now planning to keep things low‑key for a bit: “I’m kind of hoping to isolate a little bit now, stay away from public spaces and I’m also going to wait a little bit before I go home.”

Asked whether she feels the outbreak could have been flagged sooner, she says she didn’t hear rumours beforehand but isn’t sure how earlier awareness would have changed her experience.

“You don’t really want people to be scared and stuff getting out too soon, but I don’t really know how I feel about it - I think I would have been just as nervous either way.”

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier today, Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam from the UK Health Security Agency told BBC Radio 5 Live that sharing vapes could be one of the ways that meningitis-causing bacteria had spread in the outbreak in Kent.

A number of health experts have also come forward to advise young people not to share their vapes.

For the infection to spread, it needs very close contact with another person. Anything where saliva is shared, such as kissing, sharing a drink or cup, coughing or sneezing close to someone else would count.

It makes sense that using a friend's vape or sharing it around several people would have the same effect. Sharing a cigarette (and the saliva on it) would present the same issue.

Many young people carry the bacteria in the nose or throat without getting ill or developing any symptoms - but when students are mixing really closely and intimately in large numbers at universities, that's when the bacteria can spread more easily.

Many online vape retailers warn that sharing vapes is not recommended because of the chances of passing on colds, flus, sores, bacteria and other skin infections.

Vicky Castle
BBC News

A fourth Kent school has confirmed it is linked to the outbreak.

Highworth Grammar School said in a statement: "We are sad to report we have a Year 13 student who has been admitted to hospital with a suspected case of meningitis.

"Our thoughts are with them and their family who, at this stage, are waiting for a confirmed diagnosis.

"We are supporting all our students regarding this update, taking specific precautionary measures on hygiene and sharing key information regularly with the school community.

"We are in contact with the UK Health Security Agency and will be monitoring the health and wellbeing of all our students very carefully.

"We also extend our deepest sympathy to everyone who has been affected by the tragic loss of two students in our local area."

Pharmacies are seeing a surge in demand for private meningitis B vaccinations as concern rises over the Kent outbreak.

Superdrug says bookings for its meningitis service are now 65 times higher than they were this time last week.

The MenB jab is usually part of the infant vaccination schedule introduced in 2015, meaning most older teens and students won’t have had it unless they paid privately.

A number of high street pharmacies offer the vaccine:

• Superdrug provides it for children from two months and adults up to 50, at £110 per dose.
• Boots offers two doses for £220, for adults and children aged two and over.
• Well Pharmacy also provides it for two‑month‑olds up to adults aged 50, at £110 a dose.
• Asda has a full MenB course for £179.76.

Availability varies - some pharmacies still have slots today, but no appointments are currently available at Boots in Canterbury.

Experts are stressing that even with this surge in interest, antibiotics remain the immediate priority for anyone exposed in the current outbreak.

They warn the jab takes time to work, and UKHSA is still confirming whether the specific MenB strain involved is one that the vaccine protects against.

Image source, EPA

Just before Streeting addressed the Commons, we heard from a spokesperson for the prime minister.

Downing Street says Prime Minister Keir Starmer has full confidence in the UK Health Security Agency amid claims it acted too slowly during to address Kent's MenB outbreak.

The prime minister’s official spokesman has said the UKHSA was first alerted to a “cluster of cases” late on Saturday and “acted immediately”, contacting those at risk throughout Saturday evening and Sunday.

He said the agency responds as soon as hospitals notify them of clinically suspected cases, adding: “Once patterns became clearer, UKHSA moved quickly to identify contacts and put precautionary measures in place, including offering antibiotics, which are an extremely effective treatment for bacterial meningitis.

"This is exactly how public health systems are designed to work - acting on evidence, not speculation.”

The spokesman has noted there can be a short gap between a patient being admitted and the formal notification that allows UKHSA to begin public health action.

Asked directly whether the PM believes the agency acted quickly enough, the spokesman replied: “Yes.”

Image source, UK Parliament

The government will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls at the University of Kent in Canterbury in the coming days, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told MPs at the House of Commons.

Streeting shared his condolences about the "unprecedented outbreak" which has killed two young people. He confirmed that as of 09:30 today there were four cases of MenB and another 11 cases under investigation. The UKHSA will publish figures of relating to the outbreak each day at 09:30.

He says the majority of cases link back to the Club Chemistry nightclub, in particular those who attended on 5, 6 and 7 March. The health agency was notified of the first case on 13 March, Streeting said.

French authorities alerted UKHSA to a confirmed case in France on Saturday from an individual who had attended the University of Kent, Streeting added.

On access to antibiotics, Streeting says health officials have administered 700 doses so far.

Streeting also confirmed that he was not advising school closures, as the disease spreads through "close personal contact," which includes kissing, sharing vapes, sharing drinks.

"The general risk is low," he told MPs, saying that "people shouldn't be unnecessarily worried or anxious".

Image source, House of Commons

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield says that the constituency is "completely devastated".

She says she's getting a lot of questions about school attendance, and asks Streeting if people should be going to school.

Medics on the frontline in Canterbury are reporting being overwhelmed with requests for antibiotics, Duffield says, asking for clarity on when constituents should go to those clinics.

Streeting says he is "not advising school closures".

He says he wants to reiterate how the disease is transmitted, which is through "close personal contact... kissing, sharing vapes - which I am concerned about in the context of young people".

"But the general risk is low", he says, and he doesn't want people to be "unnecessarily worried or anxious".

Image source, House of Commons

Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, Helen Whately, says 18-year-old Juliette, the Year 13 student from Queen Elizabeth's Grammar, Faversham, who died from the outbreak, lived in her constituency.

She says sixth formers and university students mix in "crowded" venues and the government must consider the risk to schools. She asks whether all pupils who went to Club Chemistry have been identified and invited for treatment, and whether Streeting will roll out the vaccination scheme for schoolchildren as well.

Streeting says there was some challenge in identifying the schools concerned on Sunday and contact was made on Monday morning, adding that he needs to "look really hard at whether more could and should have been done" to get in touch with schools earlier.

He says it is important to "have a grip on who those young people are" to make sure they know where to go if they have concerns.

Labour MP Jim Dickson asks for reassurance that the meningitis outbreak is linked to a "very specific venue and event".

"All cases are presently being treated as linked" to the nightclub, Club Chemistry, Streeting says.

But he adds that the government is "not taking that for granted" and will keep assessing information.

Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP and chair of the Health and Social Care select committee, says that while she does think the UKHSA has taken this "incredibly seriously", the select committee has "deep concerns" about vaccination and immunisation, and wants to see more focus on the issue from the "highest levels of government".

She also says she hopes this tragedy will bring "greater public awareness" about vaccination.

Streeting replies that she is "right to press more broadly" on the issue of vaccination.

He says the winter vaccination campaign was "more successful" than last year, but adds that "I still don't think we are doing well enough as a country" when it comes to vaccination rates, particularly for uptake in children.

Image source, House of Commons

Image source, House of Commons

Liberal Democrat Alison Bennett is now up. She asks whether Streeting is confident that the outbreak is "contained".

And she adds it is "not unreasonable" for those elsewhere in the country to wonder whether they should seek "catch-up vaccines". She says politicians and political parties have a "moral duty to support science over conspiracy theories" among falling vaccine take-up rates.

On vaccines, Streeting says he follows the advice for Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) but he says if he hopes "one good thing" can come out of this situation is the "general public awareness of the important of taking up vaccinations".

The public health risk for the wider population "remains low" but he says they are "actively contact tracing" those in close contact with cases and offering antibiotics which are "really effective".

"If you're one of those students at the University of Kent who may have left campus... we're making arrangements for you to be able to visit your GP and receive your antibiotics there."

Image source, House of Commons

The next question comes from Naushabah Khan, Labour MP, who asks what work the government is doing with the university to contain the spread across other campuses in Kent.

Streeting says there are four treatment sites available in and around campus. The government is also making sure that students who have gone home who may wish to access antibiotics because of risk factors can still contact their GPs and receive treatment locally.

Image source, House of Commons

Adding that the response to the outbreak should remain "calm and evidence led", shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew asks if there will be any changes made to those eligible for the MenB vaccine.

"Once we are through this, we will obviously look at the handling of the UKHSA's response" since there is always more to learn, Streeting first says.

He adds they were seeking a "balance" between people being informed "in a timely way" while ensuring they weren't "spreading unnecessary anxiety and concern", and ensuring there were channels through which people in need could get support.

Schools with cases were identified during the course of Sunday, "that wasn't a straightforward experience", he says. Two were contacted "first thing on Monday".

On vaccine available and whether further action is required in educational settings, he says the government will make announcements about "further cohorts, in the coming days".

Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew is up now. He pays tribute to the two young people that have died, and to the staff rolling out the antibiotics programme. Andrew says he has friends who are anxious about their son who was in the vicinity of the outbreak at the weekend.

He says he has concerns about the management of this situation, including the timeline and the threshold used for wider public communication.

He also asks whether Streeting is able to confirm whether all cases are believed to be part of one cluster or whether there is a risk of multiple sources of infection.

"This situation will undoubtedly cause concern among families, particularly with the end of term approaching," he adds, asking what advice is being provided to families and local health services in other parts of the country.

Image source, House of Commons

More now on the detail of the vaccination programme just announced by the health secretary.

A “small targeted vaccination programme” for MenB will begin in the coming days for students living in halls at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus, the UKHSA has confirmed.

It says it is being carried out "given the severity of the situation" but the programme may be expanded as it continues to asses any "ongoing risk to other populations".

The UKHSA says the priority remains "for those offered antibiotics to come forward as this is highly effective at preventing the disease and transmission".

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, says people are coming forward and they were working closely with the NHS.

She says: "Once again we remind anyone who visited Club Chemistry between 5 and 7 March to come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precaution, as well as those offered antibiotics at the university.

"Investigations have now confirmed that some of the cases are Men B. It is important to be aware that the MenACWY vaccine routinely offered to teenagers does not protect against MenB, which is why knowing the symptoms and seeking early treatment is so important.

"If you think you may have symptoms of meningitis, do not hesitate to seek medical help by contacting your GP or calling NHS 111."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says people have "understandably" been asking about a vaccine. He recalls that from 2015, MenB jabs were offered by the NHS as part of routine childhood immunisations but "clearly most students will not have been vaccinated".

"Given the severity of the situation, I can confirm to the house that we will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days," Streeting tells MPs.

He says the UKHSA will provide further advice on other cohorts, also in the coming days.

In light of the latest outbreak, Streeting says he'll ask the JCVI to "re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines".

Image source, House of Commons

Wes Streeting says the government will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days.

Though "uncommon", the MenB is "a serious and particularly lethal strain" of meningitis, says Streeting.

The onset of illness "is often sudden", making early treatment "vital", he says, adding that it doesn't spread very easily, with the bacteria passing through extended periods of close contact - such as through kissing, or sharing vapes and drinks.

The symptoms can be "easily mistaken" for other conditions, even hangovers, he says.

There are four centres open administering antibiotics in Canterbury for those who think they have been in close contact or attended the nightclub Club Chemistry, Streeting says.

Anyone worried about a child or a friend should "seek help urgently", he says.