Flu vaccines suspended, practices want review

AUCKLAND: Problems continue to plague distribution of the flu vaccine.

The Ministry of Health has suspended orders to general practices until another shipment arrives.

The frontline health sector is now calling for a review of vaccine distribution and a network of general practices says some clinics have now run out of vaccines, despite needing to vaccinate thousands of priority patients.

The Government says about 700,000 vaccine doses are in the community and yet to be administered and the issue is not with supply, but distribution within district health boards.

The ministry expects the next shipment of 320,000 to arrive the week beginning May 11.

Orders placed before April 27 would be filled but there could be a delay and appointments for vaccinations should be booked only once the stock was in.

Patients deemed highrisk and eligible for free vaccinations should be prioritised, the ministry said.

The initial vaccination programme was brought forward and then extended because of distribution issues to ensure the most vulnerable — over 65s, pregnant women, those with certain chronic conditions and frontline health workers — were prioritised.

About 587,000 people have been vaccinated, compared with 290,000 for the corresponding period last year.

More people aged 65 and over have been vaccinated this year than throughout all of 2019.

The programme ended on April 27 and the wider public can now be vaccinated at a pharmacy or their doctor.

But OmniHealth said centres had up to 7000 priority people yet to vaccinate and the 60 per order limit imposed after earlier distribution issues had slowed the process.

Network director Mark Wills said many clinics also had orders cancelled and patients had blamed clinics.

‘‘It’s caused a lot of unnecessary angst and effort, which I thought would have been unavoidable.’’

Mr Wills said the ministry’s hold on orders was the latest frustration in a long list of issues and he wanted a review of the distribution chain.

This call was supported by the chief executive of the Pharmacy Guild, Andrew Gaudin, who said providing more vaccines should be applauded but the execution needed ironing out. — RNZ