The Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health has reported the community is overwhelmingly supporting the message to get their flu vaccinations this year.
However, Dr. Ian Arra said the increasing demand has led to intermittent gaps in the supply. An Advisory from The Ministry of Health says the influenza vaccine will be temporarily unavailable at times due to the unprecedented demand.
The local public health leader added that supplies are being replenished on an ongoing basis, so people should check with their local pharmacy or health care provider. He explained the vaccine is distributed in two ways. On one hand, The Ministry of Health or national suppliers provide the vaccine directly to local pharmacies. As well, public health provides the flu vaccine to hospitals, primary care, long term care, and other health care providers. Dr. Arra says supplies have been steadily distributed to health care providers and others as they arrive.
However, this increasing demand has ordering restrictions are in place to ensure that all locations have access to the influenza vaccine. Dr. Arra said at this time, influenza vaccine doses will not be available in all locations across the province.
Dr. Arra added initial shipments of flu vaccine were earmarked for those at high-risk, including young children, older adults and residents of long-term care and retirement homes. A significant proportion of those populations have been successfully vaccinated.
He explained the two pillars of this success have been the work of our pharmacy partners, and the proactive collaboration between public health and some of the family health teams. For example, the Peninsula Family Health Team worked closely with Public Health to ensure that their request of 1,000 doses for their eight community immunization clinics were received on time to help immunize the residents of the Bruce Peninsula.
