At the University of Kent, students told of how they had been at social events and in the library, as about 600 vaccinations were offered on Wednesday.
Economics student Mohammed Olayinka said the campus was “a bit of a ghost town”, adding some thought it best to stay, but others “panicked and left”.
Architecture student Sophie said some students fled the city.
“It’s so quiet now, most of our friends have gone home, it’s weird,” she said. “We are the only two left in our house and we’re both going home today.”
She was waiting to take her antibiotics until she knew if she had been in close contact with anyone who had become ill.
Oliver Contreras, a 22-year-old postgraduate law student from Brighton, East Sussex, was the first to have the vaccination. He said he was at social events on Sunday and wished he had had information before going out.
Architecture student Divine Nweze said: “My parents just told me, ‘get up and get the vaccine’. They won’t even let me go home because of what’s going on.”