[ad_1]
Initially scheduled to run until November 15, the seasonal flu vaccination phase of priority people could not be fully completed due to lack of supplies. However, this year, Belgium received 600,000 additional doses. Why do Belgian pharmacies no longer have flu vaccines? Explanations.
“I have been vaccinated for more than twenty years, but this year I will not be able!“Robert, 71, is still considered by the Belgian authorities as a priority person, because he belongs to category A. He had to, like people over 65 and those at risk (such as pregnant women, nurses, etc.), get the seasonal flu shot before November 15. This resident of the province of Hainaut contacted us, like many other people, via the orange Alert us button. “I visited 3 of them, they all made the same speech: this year there will be no more vaccines”, he complains. Then add: “It’s been 4 weeks since I tried am‘take some, unsuccessfullyisS!“
However, this year 3 million doses were ordered for all pharmacies in the country, 600,000 more than in previous years. So where did all these vaccines go?
90% of Brussels pharmacies no longer have vaccines
To try to answer this question and see if Belgian pharmacies lack the doses to vaccinate priority people, we contacted over thirty of them in the Brussels region. In order for the result to be accurate and in line with reality, two or even three pharmacies per municipality were called. And the result is clear: 90% of pharmacies in the Brussels region no longer have vaccines. Only 10% of them still had doses in stock, but already reserved by priority people.
We have not vaccinated at all for at least 1 month and we have a waiting list with about 200 people, all priority!
“It’s already the total shortage since September!” launches this pharmacist who works in Saint-Josse. Same story for Pharma Brussels Flagey: “It’s been a long time since we ran out of vaccines in physics, at least 3 weeks. This year the demand was greater than the doses we actually had in the pharmacy “. The same goes for Buyl Pharmacy: “We haven’t had any for at least 1 month. And we have a waiting list with around 200 people, all of them priority! ” Unfortunately, this case is not isolated: 90% of the pharmacies contacted had it a waiting list ranging from 10 to 200 people all belonging to category A.
This year the government had planned a different vaccination approach, particularly due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Unlike in previous years, when the flu vaccine was only given to category A people, the government decided to add category B. Superior Health Council, group A includes people over the age of 65 and those at risk such as pregnant women or nursing staff (A), while group B groups people between the ages of 50 and 65.
A sequential vaccination had to take place to ensure that people in these groups were vaccinated earlier than the others, from September 15 to November 15. Another novelty was that these groups did not need medical prescriptions to receive it, especially to facilitate their vaccination.
So, bad or good idea?
We had to refuse the vaccine to many people at risk, who were also our customers.
On 15 November the vaccination was finally not extended to the rest of the population as planned because there were not enough doses. Worse still, there is currently not enough even for priority people.
The authorities even overturned their initial decision and as of October 30, only Category A people and those considered at risk can still receive the flu shot.
But many pharmacies make the same observation: “We had to refuse the vaccine to many at-risk people, who were also our customers, because we only have multiple doses in stock! This year the demand has exploded “, explains a pharmacist.
All explain that they have been in tension since the beginning of the vaccination phase and report a lack of communication around the stocks: “We are fed up! And above all we do not understand what is happening! Of the 200 vaccines I ordered, I only received 10! “, protests this independent pharmacist based in Saint-Gilles.
These orders, pharmacies have to place them almost a year in advance, that is, in February of this year. They typically rely on stock sold in previous years to know the number of servings they will need to order..
The authorities did not expect such a request
“The authorities did not expect such a request”, explains Alain Chaspierre, spokesman for the Association des Pharmacies Belges (APB). “However, we have been alerting them to the matter since May, explaining to them that we would definitely have a problem with the doses. ”
With the arrival of the covid-19 crisis, the APB already feared a shortage of flu vaccines, especially in view of a second wave of viruses in the winter of 2020.
Is it a mistake to immediately extend vaccination to category B?
Despite these concerns, the government still decided to vaccinate groups belonging to categories A and B. For Alain Chaspierre, it was a mistake: “Vaccination for categories A and B should not have taken place at the same time. We did not expect such a request. Pharmacies have seen people who have not come to get vaccinated in previous years and who have done so this year. The demand was huge! “
And for good reason, every year, 60,000 doses go unsold by pharmacies, at their own expense. “Despite the awareness campaigns for the seasonal flu vaccine, Belgium has a very low vaccination coverage rate and does not even reach 40%! “, Continue the spokesperson for pharmacists.
But this year it is a peak that has never been reached, mainly due to the current pandemic. And, despite the additional 600,000 doses, the country will not have enough, perhaps even for category A people. “Deliveries are still scheduled, but today, even with these extra doses, I’m afraid we’re too short” worries Alain Chaspierre. “The most important explanation for this situation is the lack of awareness of the Belgian population in terms of flu vaccination. If all people at risk were vaccinated every year, today we would have 100% of the doses “, appreciated the spokesperson. “Pharmacists are very nervous! They had to play the police choosing who could get the vaccine or not, that’s not their role and it’s very difficult to explain to customers sometimes. “
We can no longer produce new vaccines, Belgium has had its 3 million doses and must be satisfied
A vaccine made almost a year earlier
“We can no longer produce new vaccines. Belgium has had its 3 million doses and has to make do with this “, explains Alain Chaspierre. “Companies determine the amount of vaccines‘they must produce more‘an an to the‘Advance! And the pharmacies pre-order them in February of the same year “, he continues.
The production process is really long and complicated. “Each year, experts analyze which variants of influenza virus types could appear during the next disease season,” explains the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) on his website. These strains are then analyzed by the World Health Organization (WHO) which tells companies in February “What variants can be included in the flu shot.” The product is then made for about 6 months.
Source: Sanofi
“The production of flu vaccines‘performs on fairy chicken eggscondés, from nine to twelve days. The virus is injected into thousands of eggs, which are then incubated for two to three days during which the virus multiplies. The albumen, which now contains millions of vaccine viruses, is then re-createdfoalé and the virus have separated “, Explain WHO about it place. It then takes about two weeks to produce a file “Lot of antigens”. When the latter has been produced, the manufacturer must repeat this process as many times as necessary to produce the number of vaccines required. “The batches are then diluted to obtain the desired concentration of antigisnes, then procisfrom filling and labeling ampoules or syringes. This process takes two weeks. “
Influenza virus “almost non-existent” in the southern hemisphere this year
On average, the flu epidemic causes 1,000 deaths a year in Belgium, of which more than 90% involve people aged 65 and over. In Europe, 60,000 people die from the flu virus. This year, with the covid-19 pandemic, the flu has been at the center of concerns and everything has been done to avoid a double pandemic: priorities for people at risk, no more vaccines ordered … But this has not prevented a shortage in Belgium, but also in other European countries due to concerns related to covid-19.
But Alain Chaspierre is still reassuring: “This year, certainly thanks to anti-covid measures such as masks, removal and hand washing, the flu virus has been less virulent, if not almost non-existent, in the southern hemisphere. It should be the same for us. ”
Source link
