Worthy News: Vaccine shortages 'in some areas'

Thursday 6 January 2011

Vaccine shortages 'in some areas'

GP Dr Rosemary Leonard: "There's been a rush on the flu vaccine and my surgery ran out"

The government has urged flu vaccine suppliers to get extra jabs into the UK "as soon as possible" amid concerns some GP surgeries are running out.

Reports have been circulating for a few days that patients were being turned away by doctors because they had run out of vaccinations.

The Department of Health has now admitted to problems in some areas.

Manufacturers have been told to start gathering any left over vaccines from factories across Europe.

It is thought to be the first time for years that the government has intervened in the seasonal flu programme in this way.

Flu vaccines - like many others - are ordered directly by GPs. They estimate how many they need based on uptake in previous years.

More than 14m doses have already been delievered to GPs in the UK this winter.

Up until early December there seemed to be plenty in the system as immunisation uptake was lower than in previous years.

However, doctors have reported an increase in interest in the flu jab following media coverage of the outbreak and this has been followed this week with reports of doctors running out.

Dr Rosemary Leonard, a GP who appears on TV, has said her surgey has none left, while readers of the BBC website have emailed in to say they have experienced problems getting vaccinated.

It has now emerged the government has intervened by urging its manufacturers to scour the continent for any spare vaccines.

The Department of Health has asked suppliers "to be in contact with their factories in Europe to see if more UK licensed vaccine can be brought into the UK as soon as possible".

But a Department of Health spokeswoman said while there was "no national shortage" some areas were experiencing "local supply issues".

She said she hoped these issues could be resolved locally - GPs with too much vaccine can sell it on to neighbouring doctors who run out.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.