No shortage of flu vaccines in Northern Ireland says Swann

The Public Health Agency said uptake of the vaccine has been higher than ever before.

There is "no shortage" of ordered flu vaccines for Northern Ireland, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

NI's GP committee had said that Northern Ireland was almost 200,000 doses short of the flu vaccine.

The chair of NI's GP committee had raised concerns that it would not be possible to complete the vaccination programme for those aged over 65.

But the Public Health Agency (PHA) now says that this is not the case.

Concerns about a shortage of flu vaccine initially emerged after a meeting of GPs and Public Health Agency representatives last week.

Dr Alan Stout, chair of NI's GP committee (NIGPC), then wrote to GPs across Northern Ireland and said he was "deeply concerned and frustrated" about a shortfall in flu vaccines.

The BBC has also learned that after last week's meeting, Dr Stout wrote to the chief medical officer highlighting their concerns over the shortfall of about 200,000 vaccine doses.

In an email to Dr Michael McBride and seen by BBC News NI Dr Alan Stout said: "You will see that it is far from satisfactory and puts practices in a very difficult situation and really does put at risk the completion of the flu campaign this year.

"Is this all consistent with your own understanding?

"We have a large number of practices with significant numbers of patients still to be vaccinated. We need to get advice to them ASAP about when they can do this and what vaccine they should give. "

But on Monday Dr Gerry Waldron from the PHA said there was not a shortage and he hoped the confusion would not deter those coming forward.

Later on Monday Robin Swann also denied there was a shortage and said Northern Ireland had ordered in total 1,050,300 doses for this year.

As of last Friday, 826,890 doses had been delivered into Northern Ireland, with 601,243 doses delivered to GPs and health trusts.

• Flu vaccine clinics 'frantically cancelled'

• NI to 'pause' flu vaccinations for under-65s

• Flu jab 'more important than ever' this winter

Mr Swann said two further deliveries had arrived in NI on Monday morning, with the total amount of vaccine delivered now standing at 1,019,590 doses.

Thirty thousand doses of childhood vaccine still to be delivered are the "only remaining order outstanding", he told the assembly.

From the outside looking in, things appear a bit of a mess.

Here are two reputable bodies - the Public Health Agency and the NI GP committee - each with their own versions of an important meeting last week.

On the one hand GPs have said they were left in no doubt of the shortfall; on Sunday the Public Health Agency confirmed in a statement that postponing clinics would "inconvenience" GPs. At no point did the PHA challenge or contradict what GPs had told the BBC.

Twenty-four hours on, however, and it is an entirely different story with the PHA adamant that Northern Ireland now has enough vaccine to go around.

The British Medical Association has reacted saying it is "delighted" with the news.

All of this highlights the importance of clear messaging, especially during a pandemic.

Communication between health officials and those on the ground needs to be accurate and up to date.

All of that will go some way in reassuring the public that when it comes to vaccines, those charged with obtaining and delivering them are in complete control of everything that is going on.

The PHA's Dr Gerry Waldron said for those aged over 65, about 296,000 vaccines are in Northern Ireland and this is "the full amount that was planned".

"It was always anticipated that stock would arrive in planned batches, and with the initial batch of vaccine for under-65s used up extremely quickly, the decision to pause was purely practical, as it was simply not possible to continue to vaccinate until the next planned tranche of vaccine became available," Dr Waldron said.

There are two different flu vaccines available for different age groups

Following the clarification from Mr Swann and the PHA, Dr Stout said: "As of 8am when practices opened this morning they did not know that there was additional flu vaccine available in Northern Ireland.

"We've only found that out during the course of the day and the only communication that I have got on that is through the press and through the media.

"It is a good thing that we now know that it is here, but this is part of the confusion, this is part of the problem."