Pharmacists ready for flu battle
Next few months ‘critical’ in stopping COVID resurgence: Ford
Ontario’s effort to stop a second wave of COVID-19 starts with “the largest and most comprehensive flu shot campaign in Canada’s history,” Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday.
Calling it the “first pillar” of the plan, he said the government is investing $70 million and ordered 5.1 million doses of the flu vaccine, nearly 700,000 more than were used last year.
“Anyone who wants a flu shot can get one,” Ford said at his daily news conference.
With Ontario’s daily count of new COVID-19 cases spiking sharply this month, he said it’s “absolutely critical” to control the spread of the flu so emergency rooms and doctors’ offices aren’t overwhelmed.
“Folks, we need your help. It’s the best way to protect you and your family because the next few months will be critical,” Ford said.
On Tuesday, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji said the public health department wants to provide wider access to flu shots this year.
Normally, the majority of shots are done through pharmacies and family doctors, he said, but it is in talks now with some of the region’s larger family health units to launch their own community vaccination clinics.
He said the flu vaccine program will allow his department to gather information that will later inform the way a widespread COVID-19 inoculation program can be run once a vaccine is approved for use. Sean Simpson, who owns two pharmacies in Niagara-on-thelake, said Niagara pharmacists are preparing to carry a heavier load this year. Last year, he and his staff administered nearly 1,000 shots at the two stores, Simpson’s Pharmasave Pharmacy in Virgil and Simpson’s
Pharmasave Apothecary on King Street.
This year, he said, they’ve been told they might receive 10 to 20 per cent more doses, “we anticipate demand might be higher than that, but it all depends on provincial stocks and how they are distributed.”
The toll influenza takes on Canadians varies year to year. Last winter there were about 42,500 cases across the country, according to Infection Prevention and Control Canada, compared to 55,000 three years ago. On Tuesday, Minister of Health Christine Elliott said there were 280 deaths from flu in Ontario last year.
Prevention measures for the
flu and COVID-19 are similar — frequent handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when you’re sick. Both illnesses also share some of the same symptoms such as aches and pains, loss of appetite, fever and cough.
Simpson said pharmacies will likely receive their flu vaccines around the second week of October.
This year, pharmacists will be able to provide high-dose vaccines to seniors. Previously that was only available through family doctors.
And while the health ministry encourages everyone six months and older to get the vaccine, Simpson said, pharmacists can only provide them to people age five and older but he has heard that age limit might be lowered.
Other regulations have been eased, he said, to get more people vaccinated. He and other registered pharmacists at his stores will likely visit seniors’ residences and some workplaces to provide shots.
To allow for physical distancing, Simpson said he will provide vaccinations by appointment only. At his Virgil store, he will set up a drive-through clinic in the parking lot.
Simpson said Canadian health officials often use flu seasons in New Zealand and Australia to estimate how severe Canada’s might be. This year it has been less severe in those countries — possibly because people are following COVID-19 precautions.
Simpson said newborns, people with egg allergies and those with compromised immune systems cannot receive the flu vaccine.
“Those are all potential members of our population that can’t get the flu shot and can’t be protected,” he said. “But if the rest of us get the vaccine, it will help reduce the spread of influenza throughout our population.”