GPs angry as lack of supplies slows push to vaccinate children against Covid-19

The push to vaccinate young children has hit a roadblock, with GPs angry scarce paediatric doses are being diverted to state hubs.

The struggle to get children vaccinated against Covid-19 has been hit by supply issues. Picture: AFP

The plan to begin vaccinating children aged five to 11 from Monday has hit a major roadblock, with GPs angry they have been forced to cancel appointments as scarce supplies of paediatric doses are diverted to state hubs.

Many parents have been told that their children’s appointments have been cancelled with just days notice, and have been unable to rebook before the start of school, which for many states and territories is this month.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday that the vaccination program for five to 11-year-olds was on track, promising two million doses would be available “over the course of the next two weeks”, with another one million available later in the month for a population of about 2.3 million children in the eligible age group.

“More than enough for every single child in Australia to be vaccinated,” he said.

But Royal Australian College of GPs Victoria chairwoman Anita Munoz said practices in Melbourne had reported receiving only 100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine each week.

“The supply has been unpredictable,” she said.

“The most important thing is the number of doses delivered … is insufficient. (100 doses a week) is woefully inadequate when you consider GPs have about an average of 1500 kids on their books for a whole practice.”

And while there may be appointments available with state clinics, Dr Munoz said most parents wanted to have their child vaccinated with the family doctor.

“It does sound that the hubs … seem to be getting more doses,” she said. “That concerns me because parents (say) they are reluctant to use the hubs as resources.

“(They are) concerned about waiting for hours … and (their child having) an experience that will turn them off later in life. They are considering the hubs as a Plan B at best, because they rightly perceive general practice is a more family friendly environment.

“General practice has the capacity to do a lot of vaccinating but we are stymied in our efforts by logistics, vaccine delivery and funding models.”

Queensland GP Trish Cuthbert, who runs Stanthorpe-based Granite Belt Medical Services, said she had been fully booked to begin administering vaccines to children from Monday, only to be told delivery would be delayed.

“We booked paediatric clinics every afternoon for this coming week between four and five and we had a really good uptake,” she said. “Then all of a sudden on Christmas Eve, I got an email saying that the delivery was going to be delayed by a week and they cited the logistics of transportation. We still haven’t received our vaccines and they tell us we won’t have them until the 14th.”

Dr Cuthbert said she was anxiously waiting for her doses to arrive or else be forced to cancel more appointments.

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal says his plans for a vaccination drive have been frustrated. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Many doctors say they are not taking any bookings until they have vaccines in their fridges.

Mukesh Haikerwal, from Altona North Medical Centre in Melbourne, said he had planned to do a big vaccination drive on Saturday but was forced to cancel when 19 of his staff were furloughed due to a Covid-19 exposure.

“We know how many kids there are but we don’t know how to get them into kids’ arms at a timely rate,” he said.

“I have 200 jabs and 1400 kids … we’re constantly thwarted by one thing or another, general practice has done all the kids vaccinations anyway, it’s a matter of being able to set up a clinic and try and get these done. I’ve said I’m not going to give any more until I have the vaccines in the fridge. It’s been two years of hell.”

Australian General Practitioners’ Alliance director Maria Boulton, who owns Brisbane clinic Family Doctors Plus, said that she had 1500 children in her practice who would become eligible for the vaccine on Monday but she was yet to receive any doses. “I don’t understand why the program was announced to be starting for five to 11-year-olds on Monday when the GPs who are doing the bulk of the vaccinations, and most of us haven’t got the supply yet.”

Dr Boulton said parents ringing her clinic were extremely anxious about their children going back to school unvaccinated.

“The thing that worries me the most is kids with certain chronic conditions, and those parents are thinking about keeping their children from school unless they’re vaccinated,” she said.