'Flu Vaccination

Something of a personal rant today - although it has much wider implications.

I don't know who Youngest Daughter takes after. She is trying to get the 'flu injection where she lives [Surrey], she is high priority as she is pregnant and asthmatic. Her doctor told her on Friday to come back next week, but not satisfied with that she rang her MP, PCT, midwifery service, local newspaper et al. The PCT said the Doctor should have supplies and 'phoned the surgery only to find none had been ordered. This has now been done and daughter is now top of the list for next week BUT in the meantime is trying to get the vaccine elsewhere - none to be had in her county even to buy privately. She has been on Radio London this morning talking about it - do you think she takes after her activist parent at all?

However there is no vaccine to be had here in Essex either, despite warnings which went out last week on our local TV and radio that vulnerable groups - especially pregnant women - should get the vaccination as soon as possible. Googling seems to suggest that other areas are having problems too.

Last week the government came under criticism for not running a campaign soon enough regarding the 'flu vaccine. After they [as the opposition] pillioried the then Labour Government for 'over reacting' to the 'flu threat last year maybe the current government should take a step back and review [a] their plans and statements and [b] what stocks are available and where they are throughout the country. For example,
looking at the website http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Flu/index.htm the latest update was December 2010.

Youngest Daughter has spent a long time at her home googling this morning trying to find whereabouts - if anywhere - there are stocks of the vaccine available in her county for her own use. I have spent a long time googling trying to find out how stocks are distributed around the country for the purpose of this blog. Neither of us has had a lot of success other than finding newspaper reports which cannot be confirmed and 'phone calls to larger pharmacies for their private supply figures are not being answered. Many private pharmacies are showing 'No flu vaccine signs'.

It would be interesting to hear from people in other counties as to the avaiability or not of the vaccine.