What’s happening with the flu vaccinations this year?

The Concord Centre in Dumbarton is the venue for people receiving flu’ vaccinations.

By Bill Heaney

What’s happening with the flu vaccinations this year?  That was the question asked by the Tory MSP Maurice Corry at Holyrood on Thursday.  Are there enough supplies of the vaccine to go round? Does the Scottish government have all [the supplies] it needs in place to cope with the demand?

Mr Corry, pictured right,  said: “I was informed by a local pharmacy in my West Scotland region that it is having great difficulty in getting supplies of the flu vaccine to meet its patients’ demands for vaccinations, as it is being told that its supplier has no stock of the vaccine.

“What provision has the First Minister put in place to ensure that we have sufficient stocks of the flu vaccine to meet the demand for vaccinations throughout Scotland before winter is upon us?”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon replied: “We have a very well-developed plan to procure the stocks of flu vaccine that are made available through the national health service for NHS-eligible groups.

“Pharmacies will often have additional stocks for other people, but our focus is on eligible groups, which have been expanded this year.

“The flu vaccine is being delivered slightly differently because of Covid, and we procure supplies through a United Kingdom-wide system.

“Perhaps the best thing for the Member to do regarding the pharmacy in his region would be to write to the health secretary [Jeane Freeman], so that we can look into the particular issues and see whether there is action that we can take to assist with them.

Labour MSP Alex Rowley then asked: “Does the First Minister agree that, apart from the risk that people are being asked to put themselves in to get the vaccine, there is a greater risk that people will just stop trying and give up?

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the challenges that the Government faces, but that is not good enough. Will the First Minister do something about it?”

Ms Sturgeon said: “Those are important issues. Obviously, the flu vaccination programme is, by necessity, being delivered differently this year because of the Covid risk.

“Our aim is that everyone who is eligible for a flu vaccination will receive an appointment after the programme commences on 1 October.

“It is very important that everybody who is eligible takes that opportunity.

“Where there are other issues around access, the Cabinet Secretary for Health will work with health boards to ensure that people who are eligible have the access that they need, to ensure that they can take the opportunity.”