On Monday morning when pharmacist Victor Wong rolled out the flu shot campaign, he was met with greater demand than ever before.
“We found that there was a lineup right in the morning for a lot of flu shots and it’s been nonstop since then,” said Wong.
With this year’s flu season now coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for the flu shot is higher than usual, resulting in shortages across the province.
“We got out the first shipment in for the Monday start and by Thursday we were already running very very low,” he said.
Jill Promoli has been calling pharmacies in her neighbourhood and so far has been unable to find one with any available doses.
“Everyone is tapped out … It appears that pharmacies have essentially run out,” said Promoli.
“There’s never a year where we hesitate getting our flu shot. It’s very important given what we’ve already been through.”
Promoli lost her young son Jude four years ago from the flu.
“For my daughter it was mild, she’d been vaccinated, but it came home and one of my two-year-old toddlers had failed to develop immunity from his flu shot and we lost him very quickly so one of our children died from the flu,” she said.
In the wake of her son’s death and in his honour, Promoli now advocates for the flu vaccine. She said a shortage of supply is especially concerning to her.
“The systems we’ve set up in the past aren’t really designed for having a whole bunch of people in a pandemic year wanting to get their flu shots in many cases for the first time in years,” explained Kelly Grindrod, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Waterloo.
Grindrod pointed out this is just the start of flu shot season and many pharmacies are only just beginning to receive their supply.
‘It’s not usual that everybody is waiting to get them as soon as they’re available at the beginning of October, and not only everybody but way more people that have in the years past,” she said.
Grindrod said in her own case she has put her name on a waiting list at her local pharmacy and suggests others do the same.
Wong, who noted he is expecting another shipment of the vaccine over the weekend weekend, said it is especially important for people to protect themselves from the flu this year.
“You’re reducing the potential strain on the health-care system, especially during this time of a pandemic when there is extra strain on our hospitals and our health-care system,” he said.
Meanwhile, Promoli said she hopes those waiting for their flu shot make it part of their annual routine.
“The flu shot is important this year and every year … but we really need them to go this year because it’s going to be a very important part of our pandemic response,” she said.
Comments