Chemists run short of flu jab
CHEMISTS were running low on supplies of the flu vaccine yesterday amid fears of an epidemic if the virus continues to spread at its current rate.
People across the country were being turned away from pharmacies that said they had run out of stock.
After reports of a shortage in Cumbria, The Daily Telegraph contacted branches of Boots across the Midlands, the East of England, the South and South West, and all 10 stores had no jabs left. Last night Boots UK said the shops would today be resupplied.
Patients in at least six areas reported that their local pharmacists had run out of stock and wholesalers were said to have increased prices as demand grew. In parts of south London, unvaccinated children were urged to visit fire stations where emergency clinics are being established today.
The rush on flu vaccines came after official figures showed Britain is suffering the worst flu season for seven years, with a more virulent strain of the virus from Australia having swept across Europe. All pensioners and children under the age of nine, as well as people with chronic health problems, are offered free flu jabs. However, most of the population have to pay around £13.
Rami Ghanim, a pharmacist in Barrow, Cumbria, said patients feared socalled “Aussie flu”. He said: “I tried to order some more for some patients but they haven’t come in. I’ve tried a number of different suppliers who don’t look like they have many left.”
High street chemists said they had avoided overstocking the jab because they are only reimbursed by the NHS for vaccines that are used. The Government has emergency stockpiles which can be formally requested by pharmacists, but the Department of Health would not say whether it had opened access to its strategic reserve.
Ministers are monitoring the spread of flu amid fears that the NHS will be thrown into crisis by another surge in cases. The death toll has now reached 85, with 27 deaths last week.
Tens of thousands of non-urgent operations and routine outpatient appointments have been cancelled in the past week to ease pressures on wards, and a hospital in Calais offered to treat British patients denied NHS operations as a result of the winter crisis, despite a flu epidemic in France. Labour seized on the offer as evidence that the Government had “lost control” of the crisis.
Latest figures suggest this country will be in the grip of an epidemic by the end of the month after cases doubled within the past fortnight. An epidemic occurs when there are more than 109 cases per 100,000 people within a month. Such rates have not been seen in England since the winter of 2010.
The figures for England show rates of GP consultations about flu have risen from 18.9 per 100,000 people to 37.3 per 100,000 people in a fortnight.
A spokesman for Boots UK said: “We’ve seen a very high level of demand from people looking to protect themselves and their families against flu and this has meant some Boots stores temporarily ran out of stock for a limited time. We have quickly replenished our supply chain and flu vaccinations will be available tomorrow from Boots Pharmacies across the country.”
The Department of Health said it was confident there was sufficient vaccine availability.
Australia
Had its worst ever flu season in 2017, with more than 220,000 infections recorded by November. There is no clear reason but just 27 per cent of the population had the flu jab, including only 6 per cent of children, says one study. Health authorities have been battling a stubborn “anti-vaccer” movement, partly related to when hundreds of children suffered adverse reactions to a bad batch of vaccine in 2010.
United States
Suffering a “moderately severe” outbreak that risks getting far worse due to an increase in cold weather and faulty vaccines. Roughly 80 per cent of the cases spreading across the country as the H3N2 strain, which is more likely to kill newborn and elderly victims. Thirteen children have already died, while 45 states are reporting widespread illness.
France
Suffering an epidemic of “la grippe”, in which almost 11,500 were admitted to hospital in the last week of December, an increase of 80 per cent on the previous week. A quarter of the patients are under 15 and parents have been told to keep their children at home if they show symptoms.
There have also been calls in France to make flu vaccines more easily available to under-65s.
Germany
Appears to be less severely affected by flu outbreaks this year, though vaccination quotas have fallen far short of international standards. Health experts are particularly concerned about pregnant women and medical staff not receiving vaccines.