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The front-line health sector is now calling for a review of vaccine distribution, and a network of general practices says some clinics have now run out of vaccines despite the need to vaccinate thousands of priority patients.
The Government says that around 700,000 doses of vaccines are in the community, but have not yet been administered, and the problem is not with the supply, but with the distribution within the district health boards.
The ministry expects the next shipment of 320,000 to arrive in the week beginning May 11.
Orders placed before April 27 will be completed, but there may be a delay and appointments for vaccines should be reserved only after stock is exhausted.
Patients considered high-risk and eligible for free vaccines should be prioritized, the ministry said.
The initial vaccination program was advanced and then expanded due to distribution problems to ensure that the most vulnerable were prioritized: over 65s, pregnant women, people with certain chronic conditions, and front-line health workers.
Approximately 587,000 people have been vaccinated compared to 290,000 for the corresponding period last year.
And more people over 65 have been vaccinated this year than throughout 2019.
The program ended on April 27 and you can now vaccinate the general public at a pharmacy or your doctor.
But OmniHealth said the centers had up to 7,000 priority people yet to vaccinate and that the 60-per-order limit imposed after previous distribution problems had delayed the process.
Network director Mark Wills said that many clinics also had canceled orders and that patients blamed the clinics.
“It has caused a lot of unnecessary distress and effort, which I thought would have been inevitable.”
Wills said the ministry’s order hold was the latest frustration on a long list of issues and that he wanted a review of the distribution chain.
This call was supported by the executive director of the Pharmacy Guild, Andrew Gaudin, who said that the provision of more vaccines should be applauded, but that the execution should be resolved.
“I think everyone would support a review. There have definitely been a lot of frustrations. Some pharmacies have faced real challenges where they have placed an order, but it was canceled or failed.
“The intention has been great to get more vaccines for more people, but we need to examine or review the execution of that.”
Community pharmacies had the same order limits as general practices, and it was a myth that they had “endless supply,” Gaudin said.
But he was pleased that vaccines could now be offered to the general population to protect more people heading into the flu season.
The Health Ministry told The New Zealand Herald that more than 1.3 million doses of the influenza vaccine had been distributed by the end of Thursday, of which:
• 942,656 went to general practices
• 180,974 went to pharmacists
• the rest went to DHB and private vaccinators.
“We commend the efforts of general practices and pharmacists to protect their most vulnerable populations. Some still have patients at risk to reach, [but] This work has been substantially completed to at least the standard it was last year, “said a ministry spokesperson.
Individual providers who still need to vaccinate priority patients should contact their DHB or immunization coordinator to manage their request.
Congressman Grant Robertson said “we clearly need to continue to ensure that the supply chains within our health system work well,” but the number of people who have already been vaccinated showed that the campaign was successful.
There were still 700,000 doses in the community yet to be administered, so the Government was confident that New Zealand had the supplies it needed, Robertson said.
“And there is more on the way.
“There is a good supply of flu vaccine.”
