While the flu shot may be in demand in the same way it was last year, the evidence seems to suggest that perhaps the rollout hasn’t been quite as smooth this time around.
As winter approaches, so-called “flu season” rolls around with it.
Ontarians locked down and masked up in 2020 — because of the COVID-19 pandemic — were eager to get their hands on a flu shot.
The Ontario Pharmacists Association said pharmacies in the province saw a 500 per cent increase in demand for the flu shot in 2020 compared to 2019.
This year, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, announced flu shots would be available to the public on Nov. 1, saying “the annual flu shot is the best defence against the flu this season.”
Canada’s National Influenza Annual Report for 2020-2021 said influenza indicators were at historical lows compared with the previous six seasons.
Through the entire flu season, “Canada only saw 69 positive detections of influenza,” it said.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization advised people in four specific high-risk groups receive a flu shot through the early weeks of October.
Those groups included people at high risk of influenza-related complications likely to require hospitalization, people capable of transmitting the virus to those in the first group, people who provide essential services and poultry industry workers.
But in 2021, the public has waited longer for flu shots.
“It’s highly in demand,” said Josh Fletcher, a physician at North York General Hospital.
He’s seen the rolling flu shot carts being administered to staff and the pharmacy operating steadily, giving shots to patients and visitors.
“There’s big uptake in the hospital, especially if you consider the policy hospitals have implemented regarding COVID vaccines,” Fletcher said.
He said people should not be hesitant about getting a flu shot because severe side effects are highly unlikely.
“There’s really very little harm from getting a flu shot,” Fletcher said. “It’d be nice if people [continue to] want a flu shot.”
Malli Zworth, a registered hematology and oncology nurse at Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said being hesitant about the flu shot is understandable, but it’s important to explore why and where that hesitation comes from.
“Is it the vaccine itself or some other reason? Then I’d explain the risks associated with not getting the flu shot, how sick you can get and so on,” Zworth said.
She said while demand for flu shots seems high, she hasn’t been seeing it delivered as extensively as last year.
“It’s still pretty early in flu season, so hopefully it’ll pick up,” she said. “Unfortunately, many doctors’ offices don’t even have the flu shot yet so patients are still waiting.”
Zworth said people seem more inclined to get vaccinated after the COVID-19 vaccine campaign. But it’s important to understand protection against one disease doesn’t mean protection against all.
“I think there may be a large proportion of the population who think because they have the COVID vaccine, they’re set and don’t need anything else,” Zworth said.
“It’s important to explain the differences between illnesses,” she said