Pharmacists hit out at difficulties stocking flu jabs amid warning illness yet to peak
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Hospitals are ‘full to bursting’ across the country with hundreds attending emergency departments. Panic over sky-high rates of flu in hospitals has left chemists struggling to stock jabs even before cases of the illness peak, pharmacy leaders have warned.
![[NHS England’s national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis has said those eligible can “still get protected” by “finding a pharmacy offering the flu vaccine.” (Lucy North/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/07/14/c54aa33dbeb468ac7f3785458df72843Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzMxMDcyODkz-2.70207750.jpg)
Professor Claire Anderson, the president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, hit out at the difficulties as she called for better national coordination and planning to ensure everyone eligible can access flu vaccinations easily. On Tuesday, NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said those eligible for an NHS jab could “still get protected” by visiting a Covid walk-in vaccination site “or finding a pharmacy offering the flu vaccine.”.
But an investigation by The Independent found chemists areas including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Stourbridge in the West Midlands reporting that they could not get hold of the innoculation. The National Pharmacy Association said that they had heard of pharmacies who are part of their organisation being unable to get hold of supplies of the jabs in St Albans.
At the weekend Adam Osprey, head of policy and development at Community Pharmacy Scotland, which represents pharmacy owners, also warned that demand was outstripping supply. More than 18 million people get a flu jab every year. But Professor Anderson said that access to the vaccine was currently “varied” across Britain.
She warned that high demand in England has led to “stock issues” while she said that in Scotland a late change in NHS eligibility for free vaccinations, which saw the age rise from 50 to 65 and over, “may have been a contributing factor to a surge in demand for private flu jabs”. She warned: “These challenges highlight the need for better national coordination and planning to ensure everyone eligible can access flu vaccinations easily.”.
