General practitioners still facing acute shortage of influenza A vaccine

AMID a backdrop of the mad rush for face masks and hand sanitisers in many parts of Asia in the wake of Covid-19 scare, Malaysia is facing a severe shortage of influenza A vaccine.

Although Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zulkefly Ahmad said on Jan 18 that 99,470 influenza A doses would be brought in within a month to meet the demand, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr N.

Ganabaskaran said the market is still seriously short of the vaccine.

He said it was not known who received the latest batch of vaccine, adding that the authorities should be more transparent.

To this, Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said 90,000-odd influenza A vaccine imported in January were mostly distributed to private hospitals and clinics with a small percentage given to government frontline healthcare providers.

He explained the Health Ministry was only responsible for approving the applications to import flu vaccines by private hospitals and clinics.

He said if private hospitals and clinics were facing a shortage of vaccines, it was a business issue between them and vaccine manufacturers.

According to a Sin Chew Daily report yesterday, only two of the seven hospitals and clinics it contacted said they had a limited stock of influenza A shots while the rest said they were waiting for delivery, which could be expected between a week and two months.

Ganabaskaran told the daily that shortage of vaccines had been a constant worry for MMA and the association had raised the matter with the Health Ministry on many occasions.

“Unfortunately, we have not seen much improvement in the situation.”

He also lamented that the 6,587 general practitioners (GPs) in the country are always the last to get the supply of vaccines whenever there is a shortage.

He said many GPs had reported to MMA that they had not received any supply for some time.

A GP’s assistant, who did not want to be named, told Sin Chew his clinic had run out of flu vaccines months ago.

He said the clinic would jot down the particulars of people who turned up for vaccination and inform them to return when new stocks arrive.

“In emergency cases, we would advise them to seek assistance at other clinics or hospitals.”