Shortage of flu vaccine

BIRMINGHAM will not hit its flu vaccine targets this winter, it has been revealed – with the city facing a shortfall of 130,000 doses.

The council has revealed how a national shortage will hit Birmingham particularly hard, with no word yet as to how many additional doses the city will be allocated in the coming weeks.

“Birmingham will not hit flu vaccine targets due to reduced vaccine coming into the whole system, approximately 130,000 doses short,” a report for councillors states.

“The NHSE National team has confirmed there is some national stock available for systems but no detail has yet been shared with us.”

Last year flu vaccinations reached record levels despite the pandemic, with more than 80 per cent of people over the age of 65 receiving their vaccination before January.

However it now appears that the country could be facing a nationwide shortage, with Kymm Skidmore, project manager, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, telling a committee: “Picking up on a couple of the challenges we’ve had, one has been flu supply for the winter. So the flu supply ordered in January is not enough for us to reach the national targets provided to us.

“There is a national flu supply, and it’s not yet clear what the process is around how we can order that, but we will be allocated based on fair shares – we just don’t know the details of when we’ll get that.

“I don’t know the exact numbers that are going to be allocated to us as a system – it’s done at a national level, and there are conversations yet to be had about how that could be split regionally.

“We’re still waiting on more updates on that, and detail around what the process will be for sites to request additional vaccine.”