Attendance peaked at more than 1,300 Thursday as students took advantage of the last day of the second vaccination clinic at Matthew Knight Arena.

The university has been working closely with public health officials and private pharmacy partners to curb the spread of the meningitis B strain that has sickened six students, taking the life of one, since mid-January.

Prior to the start of the May clinic nearly 10,000 undergraduate students had received the first in a series of doses aimed at preventing the strain of meningitis on the UO campus. This week’s clinic provided another convenient way for students who received the first dose of the three-dose series in early March to get their follow-up shot.

In addition to second doses, nearly 500 students received their first dose of the important immunization during the event.

“As the first university with an outbreak of meningitis b since the two new vaccines have been approved by the FDA, we have designed a very unique program through partnerships,” said Andre Le Duc, UO executive director of enterprise risk services and lead architect of the UO’s vaccination campaign. “We knew convenience and flexibility would be important factors in reaching as many students as possible.”

To that end the UO has partnered with Safeway, Albertsons and Walgreens to ensure that students will have continued access to the all doses of the vaccine with the same assurance of direct billing at any time during the outbreak.

“Our public and private partners have been essential throughout this campaign,” Le Duc said, “the staffing needed to pull off such a large-scale event and the volume of student turnout is a direct result of the strength of partnership between all agencies.”

More than 2,700 students took advantage of the three-day Matthew Knight Arena clinic, but students can always receive first or follow-up doses at any Safeway, Albertsons or Walgreens, or they can contact the UO Health Center with additional questions about vaccine availability. A third and likely final clinic will be held in the fall to assist students in completing the full three-dose series.

—By Jen McCulley, Public Affairs Communications