Pharmacies report shortage of flu shots – high dose shot is hard to find anywhere in Ontario

Jeff Green | Nov 18, 2020

Politicians, Ministry of Health and Public Health officials alike, have been urging Ontarians to get the flu shot this year.

While the flu shot is always recommended as a preventative, this year it has been promoted as a strategy to keep COVID-19 from overwhelming the health care system.

Frontenac County residents have heeded the advice and the demand for flu shots is well up over previous years. Drive-by flu shot clinics, organised by medical clinics in Sharbot Lake, Verona, and Sydenham, have been drawing up to 500 patients in a 4 hour stretch.

But local pharmacies who have been stretching their resources in order to offer shots to their clientele, supply has been an issue.

Leonard Chan of Inverary Pharmasave, began a wait list among his clientele in mid-October for the shots, on the expectation that he would be able to order a supply to suit his needs, which he was able to do last year. He also ordered the stronger, high dose shots, which the Ministry of Health were recommending for seniors.

“This year the system is different than it was in the past. Instead of ordering what we think we need, we are receiving doses from our supplier based on their expectation of our requirements. We used to be able to get some supply every day, but we are only getting them every two or three days. We are getting 10 or 15 doses, and none of the seniors’ doses. With a waiting list of 600 people now, our customers are waiting and waiting for us to call, to tell them we can offer a flu shot to them,” he said, in a phone interview on Monday.

Chan added that he is getting calls from patients often, asking if the shots have come in. Phone calls are coming in every five minutes or so, throughout the day.

“People are frustrated, but there is nothing we can do, nobody we can call. We called the Ministry of Health and did not get through to anyone, and our supplier said they just don’t have the supply. And we heard now that there will be no more high dose shots this season, so we only will have the regular shot.”

And the problem is not unique to Inverary. The Sharbot Lake Pharmasave store planned two public clinics at the local Legion, on consecutive Saturdays. They quickly ran out, with only 60 doses in stock, on the first Saturday, and had to cancel the second clinic because of lack of supply.

When contacted, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFL&A Public Health) said they only handle requests for flu vaccine from doctor led clinics.

“KFL&A Public Health encourages individuals to contact their health care provider to make an appointment to receive their flu vaccination. If they do not have a health care provider, we recommend that they visit their local pharmacy to receive their flu vaccination,” said spokesperson Jenn Fagan. “Individuals at high-risk of influenza complications, without a family doctor providing flu vaccine, as well as individuals without OHIP, can book an appointment at a KFL&A Public Health flu clinic. KFL&A Public Health provides influenza vaccines to physicians and family health care clinics in our region. Ontario's Ministry of Health provides influenza vaccines to pharmacies.”

The drive-by clinic at Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church on Tuesday, November 17th, was the 5th and last one to be offered for the general public by one of the physician led clinics in Frontenac County. The clinics in Sydenham, Verona, Sharbot Lake and Northbrook will have shots available, for their rostered patients only, going forward.

Flu-like symptoms and COVID-19 symptoms are very similar, and cases of the flu can only be distinguished from COVID by testing. Therefore, anyone with the flu will be required to self-isolate until their COVID test comes back negative. As well, bad cases of the flu can result in hospitalisation for vulnerable patients, further stressing a healthcare system that is dealing with the second wave of the pandemic.

There are currently 500 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in the province. While that represents a small fraction of the estimated 34,700 hospital bed spaces in Ontario, the beds are generally 96% full, without COVID-19 cases to deal with, so 500 extra people in hospital can push certain regions over capacity.

While COVID-19 case numbers have been on the rise in Kingston over the last week or so, as of Monday (November 16) there were still no COVID cases in either the Kingston or Napanee hospitals. Although there were 36 active cases in the region, the highest number at any time during the second wave, there were no active cases among Frontenac County residents. There have only been 17 throughout the pandemic.