THUNDER BAY — A local pharmacy is reporting unusually high demand for flu shots, which health authorities say are particularly crucial this year as Ontario faces a resurgence of influenza that, along with other viruses, is threatening hospital capacity.
Greg Tinsley, clinical coordinator with Janzen’s Pharmacy, on Friday said there’s been a dramatic jump in residents seeking out the shot.
“We basically did at least 50 to 60 per cent of our total expected annual flu shots just in the early release period” before shots were opened to the general public on Nov. 1, he reported.
Janzen’s generally administers between 2,000 to 3,000 doses a year, and sometimes as many as 5,000, through its pharmacies and in assisted living facilities like long-term care homes.
“We’re probably going to reach towards the higher end of that, if not exceed it” by the end of flu season, Tinsley said, calling that an encouraging sign.
Flu shots are available through local pharmacies, primary care providers, and offered alongside the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s CLE vaccine clinic.
Tinsley called vaccination “incredibly vital” this year to avoid overburdening a hospital system he said is badly strained.
“Having those people who can be vaccinated be vaccinated hopefully will free up some of the resources, free up some of the hospital beds that would have otherwise gone to somebody who has severe influenza.”
He noted FluWatch, the federal government’s influenza surveillance program, is tracking increased flu-related hospitalizations. Many Ontario hospitals have reported unprecedented children’s admissions from the flu and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Local health authorities say flu arrived in the region sooner this year, with the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre recently reporting a surge of admissions for respiratory illnesses including the flu, RSV, and COVID-19.
Dr. Janet DeMille, Thunder Bay’s medical officer of health, expressed serious concern this week over children’s health and hospital capacity.
The health unit doesn’t have access to comprehensive data on local flu vaccine uptake, DeMille said, though it provides the vaccine for hospitals and other health care settings in the district, and administers shots at its COVID-19 clinic.
“We don’t provide it to pharmacies, and they’re a big channel for vaccine distribution, so we don’t have an idea of how much they might be providing,” she said.
“Certainly, it would be very nice to see a good uptake of the flu vaccine this year,” she added.
Tinsley reported Janzen's still has some remaining supply of two vaccines targeted for seniors, the high-dose quadrivalent vaccine and the adjuvanted trivalent vaccine.
“There is a shortage in terms of the high-dose [vaccine] — the province has announced that they basically have run out of their allocated supply, so whatever anybody has at this point is what they’re getting this year,” he said.
Tinsley expects the pharmacy will run out of the high-dose vaccine within weeks.
Supplies of the trivalent shot, which Tinsley said is “also an excellent vaccine” that provides added benefits for seniors, are less limited.
Tinsley emphasized all available flu vaccines are effective, saying “the best flu vaccine is just the first one you can get.”
He also noted those with egg allergies can safely access a flu vaccine.
