GPs slam flu vaccine hold-up

GPs have attacked the Ministry of Health for not starting flu vaccinations earlier, after learning that supplies started arriving in the country at the end of last month.

But the ministry says it will not bring forward the programme, which is due to begin next week for some groups, as it wants to ensure there are sufficient stocks of the vaccine.

It also wants to make sure GPs are prepared, but doctors are demanding the vaccine immediately.

"If it's been gazetted today I would expect it to be delivered to my surgery tomorrow," said Dr Peter Foley, chairman of the Medical Association's GP Council.

"There's absolutely no excuse to blame general practice for any further delay."

National Party health spokesman Dr Paul Hutchison has also criticised Health Minister Annette King for what he describes as "unnecessary bureaucratic delays" and says people should be vaccinated now.

The vaccination programme, which usually starts in late March, was delayed after French manufacturer sanofi pasteur discovered the Vaxigrip vaccine protected against only two of the three strains of flu expected this winter.

Health officials eventually sourced 518,000 doses of full-strength vaccine, which is enough for the 400,000 people who qualify for state-paid vaccinations (including those over 65 and those with chronic lung or heart conditions).

Last month, the ministry said that healthy adults under 65 would receive the Vaxigrip vaccine, saying it provided adequate levels of protection for them.

The vaccination programme will begin on Monday for this group and full-strength vaccinations for those eligible for state-paid vaccinations will start on April 26.

Merck Sharpe and Dohme NZ managing director Alister Brown said supplies of Vaxigrip started arriving on March 30 and 456,000 doses had been received.

The company had to wait until the vaccine was approved before releasing it. GPs would now be contacted for orders and some would have it by Monday but others would receive it by the end of next week.

Ministry spokeswoman Dr Alison Roberts said the approval and regulatory process had to be repeated because the vaccine was weaker than what was ordered.

Vaxigrip was approved by Medsafe and gazetted yesterday.

Dr Roberts said the ministry wanted to ensure GPs and vaccinators had time to start planning their vaccination programme and to guarantee that sufficient supplies were in the country.

The ministry did not believe it would be helpful to change the start dates and would have done so only if there was evidence of an early outbreak of flu.

But Dr Foley said GPs were "crying out" for the vaccine. His practice had seen three patients last week with what doctors believed was flu.

"We don't need any lead-in. We had the lead-in months ago. I don't buy any delay being blamed on general practice requiring more time. I'm disappointed general practice were not made aware of it and plans for shipping earlier weren't made."

Titirangi GP Philip Rushmer said it would have made GPs' and nurses' lives much easier if they could have started vaccinating sooner.

Jo Maxwell, managing director of Maxwell Health, which does workplace vaccinations, said the company was "ready to start tomorrow".

Last year the company completed 8000 vaccinations and it had hoped to do 15,000 this year but Mrs Maxwell said the delay meant many people were saying, "It's too late now, why should we bother?"