Flu vaccine shipments headed to pharmacies

Ontario pharmacies will be getting 65,000 flu vaccine doses this week, says the head of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, Justin Bates.

That does not include Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies, which have a separate distribution system, said Bates.

Bates is still anticipating that demand will exceed supply. And it's still unclear when the next allotment will be available after the incoming doses are exhausted, he said.

Response to the call to be immunized for flu has been unprecedented this year.

“People want to stay healthy and safe especially during the pandemic,” said Bates. “But is this an anomaly or the new normal of demand?”

On Nov. 2, Rexall pharmacies told customers who had made an appointments to get a flu shot that their appointments had been cancelled due to a lack of supply across the province.

That led to a round of finger-pointing. Ontario Premier Doug Ford argued that a shortage of flu shots showed that more people were getting them, and blamed the pharmacies for overbooking appointments.

Bates said pharmacies have expected to receive a certain amount of doses, and when they did not get what they expected, they had to cancel the appointments.

“We were left with the unenviable task of telling people that their appointments were cancelled,” he said. “The core problem was the lack of supply.”

Last year, Ontario pharmacists immunized 1.4 million people in total. They have already immunized that many so far — and could have immunized more if the supplies had been available, said Bates. “This is not a situation we thought we would be in,” he said. “In October, I thought it would normalize.”

Meanwhile, there is usually additional demand for flu vaccine after Christmas. It's not clear if that will happen again, or if demand for flu shots will be satisfied by then, said Bates.

Last year, there were 300,000 flu vaccine doses left over. “It's costly and there has been wastage.”

Bates doesn't blame the Ontario government. “I think the government was prudent in its planning. It was done with data available in January and February,” he said. “The way the manufacturing works, they have to work on the formulation in spring and summer.”

Ottawa Public Health said the last round of appointments, which opened Nov. 5, have been filled, unless there are cancellations.

The next round of appointments will open Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. through the online appointment portal. A cellphone is required to make an appointment, or call 613-580-6744 to book.

The Ontario Medical Association said its members administer about 55 per cent of flu shots in Ontario — about 2.4 million each year — and they would like to administer even more.

But some physicians are frustrated because they don't know when the next allotment of flu shots will arrive, and they're concerned the province only ordered enough doses to cover about a third of Ontario's population.

“I am very disappointed we are not getting answers or supplies in a timely way. It shows disrespect and poor communications,” said Dr. Alykhan Abdulla, a Manotick family physician who is the chair of the Ontario Medical Association's section of general and family practice.

“It's like I'm in the dark and they are giving me sunglasses and headphones.”

Provinces and territories ordered more than 13.9 million doses as of mid-September — 2.7 million more than the estimated demand at the same time last year, said a spokeswoman for Health Canada.

A small reserve is also available each year, she said. Manufacturers are obligated to produce an additional five per cent of the order.