Flu vaccine supply puzzle for board
SUPPLY issues with the influenza vaccine ‘‘have been a real riddle’’, the Southern District Health Board was told yesterday.
‘‘I don’t think it’s a crisis but it’s certainly not ideal,’’ board strategy, primary and community executive director Lisa Gestro said.
The South has been a supply issue hot spot, highlighted a fortnight ago by hundreds of people queuing outside Mosgiel Health Centre waiting for injections.
‘‘Even this morning, on the way in, I was hearing contradictory statements from [Directorgeneral of health] Ashley Bloomfield and his team that are often at odds with what we are hearing locally,’’ Ms Gestro said.
‘‘We have tried really hard to unpick and unravel this dilemma that is the supply conundrum.
‘‘It appears that the system does work and that there is indeed supply, but that it is a clunky system.’’
Supply issues seemed more marked the further south one went, a situation partly driven by bad weather delaying planes carrying vaccine.
‘‘The frustration of general practice has been wellaired,’’ Ms Gestro said.
‘‘There have been gaps where providers have had to wait up to three to five days for their next supply to arrive, and that’s been frustrating for general practices who have organised clinics for vulnerable people and advertised those.’’
GPs and the Health Ministry have been waging a war of words for weeks.
The ministry’s response to doctors’ claims they do not have flu vaccine has been that record numbers of vaccinations had been ordered and were available.
SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said some clinics had missed out on the vaccine while some pharmacies and private providers had been oversupplied.
‘‘There have been discrepancies across the practices, particularly affecting the larger practices who needed to order and receive larger quantities,’’ he said.
‘‘Immunisation coordinators have redistributed vaccines mainly from private occupational health providers and Student Health in Dunedin to practices.’’
New Zealand Medical Association chairwoman and GP Kate Baddock said on Monday there would be a shortage of the flu vaccine next week if practices did not get more stock.
Dr Baddock told RNZ practices could not get more stock until after May 11, when a new shipment was expected to arrive.
‘‘We know there is going to be a gap in supply. The question is whether demand therefore exceeds what is currently available.
‘‘We don’t know what the demand will be like next week.’’
She expected most practices to have one to four days of supply on hand now.
‘‘The distribution up until now, since the ministry has been controlling distribution, it has in fact been reasonable and we have had adequate supplies coming through each day.’’
If the demand exceeded this week’s stock, there would be a shortfall, she said. — Additional reporting RNZ
❛ We have tried really hard to unpick and unravel this dilemma that is the supply conundrum
Lisa Gestro