A number of Islanders have contacted the JEP in recent days to say that they have been unable to get the vaccine and have instead been added to waiting lists.
However, Linda Diggle, head of preventative programmes at Health, said there was not a shortage of the vaccine, just a different process in place this year for over 65s, who are for the first time being given a special vaccine specifically aimed at ageing immune systems. That vaccine is only manufactured by one company and therefore deliveries are being sent out in batches.
Asked if the department was confident that there would be enough to go around, she said: ‘There is no reason to suppose that we aren’t going to have enough. We are in the same situation as the UK, the manufacturers deliver it as soon as they get the vaccine. It is just a different way of doing things.’
And she reassured people that there would be time to get the vaccine before flu season begins.
‘We give the vaccine ahead of the winter flu season. It takes about two weeks for your immune system to respond to give you the immunity.
‘Flu normally starts circulating around the end of the year, we are only October so there is plenty of time for everybody to get protected.’
Earlier this month it was reported that more than 2,100 adults had already had the flu vaccine at their GP surgery or local pharmacy since this year’s programme began on 1 October. More than half of those who had the vaccine in the first week were aged 65 or over.
The vaccination programme aims to prevent flu in specific vulnerable groups of people, including young children, pregnant women, people with a long-term medical condition and over-65s. Children receive the vaccine, often via a nasal spray, for free while adults in the at -risk groups pay £10.
The standard vaccine for adults and the nasal spray are unaffected by the changes affecting those aged over 65.
