Flu vaccine shortfall: Help on the way with extra doses due by end of July
AN EXTRA 800,000 doses of the flu vaccine will be fast tracked to Australia as the government tackles a supply shortfall, after unprecedented demand for the jab.
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AN EXTRA 800,000 doses of the flu vaccine will be fast tracked to Australia as the government tackles a supply shortfall as thousands more Aussies than expected sought the free flu shot.
It comes after NSW and Victoria this week announced they were rationing access to the vaccine because there was not enough to go around.
The acting Chief Medical officer Dr Tony Hobbs says an extra 93,000 doses of the vaccine were bought into the country in the past week.
Next week another 150,000 doses will be made available.
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By the end of July the government expects to have been able to secure 800,000 extra doses of the vaccine.
This includes an additional 500,000 doses, which will be manufactured in Parkville, Melbourne.
Almost 10 million doses which have already been released this flu season under the free National Immunisation Program (NIP), state programs and the private market.
This now is an increase of 26.5 per cent from last year.
Last year’s flu season was the worst on record and experts revealed the flu vaccine used last year did not work well because the virus mutated.
Official statistics show there have been over 13,000 cases of the flu so far this year.
These are laboratory confirmed cases and only record people who had a blood test to confirm the flu so there may be many more cases in the community.
Originally published as Flu vaccine shortfall: Help on the way with extra doses due by end of July