The federal government urged all Australians to arrange to have their flu shots in April,but many general practitioners say they have only been given enough vaccinations to immunise a fraction of their patients,and have waiting lists hundreds of people long.
![Former AFL star Tim McGrath and his wife Noreen are among the many Australians who have been unable to access the flu shot this year.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/d29ea781a68ca0061fbb1384bfaf556e49f64ba5)
Former AFL star Tim McGrath and his wife Noreen are among the many Australians who have been unable to access the flu shot this year.Jason South
Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said the distribution problems were “really unfortunate” given Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy launched a campaign for influenza immunisation on April 1.
"There's been an enormous take-up of the flu vaccine very quickly,and I think the logistics has basically failed in the early weeks,"Dr Bartone said.
While a record 16.5 million flu vaccines have been secured this year,the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Harry Nespolon said efficient delivery of the vaccines,a responsibility of the states,continued to be a major problem.
Some GP clinics in Victoria and NSW have only received small amounts – or none at all.
![RACGP president Harry Nespolon says there are problems with vaccination distribution every year,and it is time the problem was fixed.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/905fb65c866f9fb53ef2c427fe945a911e72e221)
RACGP president Harry Nespolon says there are problems with vaccination distribution every year,and it is time the problem was fixed.Dominic Lorrimer
"The vaccines are coming,just getting enough of them is difficult,"Dr Nespolon said.
"So 500 vaccinations might sound like a lot of vaccinations,but for a big clinic they would get through them in a day or two. And they're getting 50.”
![Geelong GP Bernard Shiu says he has had to make difficult decisions between which vulnerable patients should get their flu shots.](https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_300%2C$height_150/t_crop_auto/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/f8828536b7b703b912269e4e0fdd96e1b355d5f0)
Geelong GP Bernard Shiu says he has had to make difficult decisions between which vulnerable patients should get their flu shots.Jason South
Doctors have also complained that pharmacists seem to be getting preferential supply,though the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has reported shortages too with some stores selling out of their early vaccine supplies in record time due to anxiety around coronavirus.
“Many patients who might otherwise have waited until closer to the peak of the flu season and sought vaccination at their GP have instead sought vaccination sooner at their local pharmacy,and this has led to depletion of stocks,” said the guild president George Tambassis.
In Geelong,general practitioner Dr Bernard Shiu has 500 people on his clinic’s wait list and is having to make agonising decisions about which vulnerable patients should have first access to the vaccine.
He said he’d heard stories of people crying on the phone to receptionists.
“Every day we have to ration,” he said.
“Pregnant ladies? Cancer patients? Patients with asthma? Who do we give it to first? And that becomes a very difficult call.”
Noreen McGrath is one of the patients who has so far missed out,despite the 47-year-old having been so ill with the flu in May last year that an ambulance had to be called as she found herself gasping for air.
As she runs a coffee van,shutting herself away at home is not an option.
“I'm actually outside near people. We have social distancing,but all it takes is a bit of a cough and the wind blows and I’m hoping I’m not going to catch it.”
Her husband,former Geelong footballer Tim McGrath,has received cancer treatment after being diagnosed with melanoma in 2013 – putting him in a group that would be a priority for a vaccine,but he is also yet to get one.
Dr Nespolon said the best place for people to get their flu shot was with their doctor and said it was time for state governments to invest in better and faster distribution systems.
Those systems have come under unprecedented extra pressure this year – with more than 1.8 million flu doses distributed in Victoria and 2.4 million in NSW,about double the same time last year.
Health departments in those states said they began delivering the vaccinations earlier than normal this year.
NSW Health is keeping a list of GPs with supplies and a spokesperson said it was important that providers made sure they have enough fridge space for vaccines.
,with only 179 confirmed influenza cases so far in April,compared with more than 18,000 last year. But with restrictions set to ease,doctors warn this trend may not last.
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