Health system ‘caught short’ by 2018 flu fears

Fears of another bad flu season caused havoc in the health system last winter, exposing cracks in its ability to fight a pandemic.

Australia’s 2017 flu season left more than 1200 people dead.

Fears of another bad flu season caused havoc in the health system last winter, with an initial shortage of vaccines, confusion over different products and rules, and some people left without protection, an official review has found.

Australia’s 2017 flu season, the worst since the 2009 pandemic, left more than 1200 people dead and sparked a rush on vaccines for the 2018 season.

Despite reassurances that the threat had diminished and Aust­ralia would be better prepared, the surge in demand exposed cracks in the health system that undermine the nation’s ability to prevent another pandemic.

The Council of Australian Governments Health Council ordere­d a review by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that has found a need to be better prepared for the 2019 season and beyond.

By the time the 2018 flu season was over, the Therapeutic Goods Administration had released almos­t 11 million doses of vaccines across the National Immunisa­tion Program, state programs and the private market — 32.4 per cent more shots than in 2017.

As expected, there were far fewer flu cases last year, and nowhe­re near the number of deaths, yet public confidence in the system had suffered.

The review found jurisdictions used different methodologies to attempt to predict the number of vaccines needed and were caught short, poorly timed program announcements led to “supply challenges”, there was unanticipated high demand early in the season, issues in distrib­ution and monitoring throughout, and mixed messages for the public.

“Messaging to the public in 2018 was not well timed and private­ market messaging, including by pharmacists, was not consistent with government messagin­g,” the review found.

“The eligibility for free ­vaccines … was confusing for ­immunisation providers.”

The review made a series of recommendations to bolster the system, including better supply and distribution arrangements, a possible consolidation of the vaccines­ on offer, and more co-ordinated messaging.