By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 11:09 EST, 9 December 2013 | UPDATED: 13:13 EST, 9 December 2013 Swiss drug-maker Novartis has started supplying a new meningitis B vaccine to thousands of Princeton University students in an effort to stop an outbreak at the Ivy League campus, despite the shot not yet licensed for use in the United States. The vaccine - which is called Bexsero and is available in Europe, Australia and Canada - has been imported in and will be administered to a total of about 5000 undergraduate students and 550 graduate students in dorms at the New Jersey campus this week after receiving permission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Eight Princeton University students have been diagnosed with the B strain of meningitis
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In order to prevent the infection from spreading, officials at the New Jersey campus have received permission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to openly administer Bexsero, a Swiss-made vaccine not yet licensed for use in the United States
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Almost 6000 students will receive the shot this week
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At the University of California in Santa Barbara, an 18-year-old freshmen had to have his feet amputated due to meningitis-related complications
A free meningitis vaccine will be distributed among students at Princeton University in @placeholder this week