Despite long lines and reports of pharmacies not having enough influenza vaccine, the province says it is not running out.
That’s according to Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott who said there is plenty of the annual vaccine to go around, “There are no shortages. We started receiving shipments and we are receiving scheduled shipments, we expect a large one to arrive tomorrow. But, the first shipments went to hospitals, long-term care homes, and retirement homes because we wanted to protect those individuals first because they are vulnerable. But we are shipping as well to primary care physicians and nurse practitioners and so on as well as to pharmacies.”
Elliott reiterated there is not a shortage of the flu vaccine, “There is a good supply. I would ask people either call ahead to either schedule an appointment…just to make sure they have supply right at the moment.”
Elliott said people should not be concerned about a flu vaccine. She said the shipments of the vaccine come in every week, “if not every two weeks.”
The province has invested $70-million to buy flu vaccines this year in what Premier Doug Ford has called the largest flu immunization campaign in the province’s history.
