Vaccine supplies run short

The Southern supply of flu vaccines is under strain, and in some cases medical centres are unable to meet demand as private providers stockpiling vaccines have been ordered to redistribute them so people at risk of serious illness can be vaccinated.

Around the Southern region, general practices are reporting limited quantities of the vaccine and different ways of prioritising distribution, while other practices are only just managing with the supply they have.

The Otago Daily Times has received several reports from Dunedin residents over 65 who have rung medical centres to request a flu vaccination, but told it would not be possible.

The Ministry of Health brought flu vaccine availability forward to March 18 for high-risk groups and front-line health workers, in the hope of reducing the burden on the healthcare system during the Covid-19 crisis.

Since then, GPs around the country have been reporting shortages.

When contacted, medical centres around Otago and Southland also reported shortages of the vaccine.

GP clinics in Te Anau, Wanaka, Invercargill and Ranfurly all said they had limited supplies of the vaccine and high demand for it.

Ranfurly Medical Centre GP Dr Verne Smith said the practice had a "terrible backlog" of demand.

"We got some in at the end of last week, and that was virtually all gone in a day."

He said the practice was not prioritising the elderly while supplies were "extremely limited".

"As our older and more vulnerable patients are already self-isolating and less likely to contract the flu, instead we’ve been prioritising our front-line workers, such as emergency services and supermarket employees."

In Te Anau, Fiordland Medical Practice manager Wendy den Hertog said the surgery had ‘‘far less’’ than it ordered and that meant it was "really restricting who we administer it to".

A Dunedin medical centre manager, who did not wish to be named, said the medical facility had temporarily run out of the vaccine and had been advised the next shipment of the vaccine would not come until after Easter, which meant more than a week of having to turn away those wanting the vaccine.

"It’s not ideal at all."

Other medical centres in the city reported similar situations, though one medical centre manager said it was the same situation they normally faced each year when the first doses of the vaccine were made available.

The New Zealand Herald last night reported the holders of 500,000 missing doses (sitting on shelves in the fridges of wholesalers, travel and occupational health providers who had ordered large quantities before the vaccine became available on the private market) had been instructed to redistribute the vaccines.

When a vaccine was administered it was registered with the Immunisation Advisory Centre, so the Ministry of Health knew the doses were somewhere, director-general of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield said yesterday.

"We’re playing an active role in ensuring they’re redistributed around the country," he said.

— Additional reporting, The New Zealand Herald