Quinte-area seniors urged to get flu shot despite shortage of high-dose vaccine

Flu shots are available at free clinics hosted by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health or through your family health-care provider. File photo by Rebecca Bartlett, QNet News

By Graham Whittaker

BELLEVILLE – Hastings Prince Edward Public Health is urging local seniors to get vaccinated against the flu despite a national shortage of the high-dose vaccine recommended for people 65 and older.

There is a readily available alternative to the high-dose vaccine, according to Bill Sherlock, program manager at HPE Public Health.

“What we’re recommending to the general population is if you’re 65 and over there is still the quadrivalent vaccine,” Sherlock told QNet News, referring to the standard vaccine. “It’s still a vaccine that is safe and effective. It’s not the high-dose but it’s still a very good vaccine. And it’s better to get that than nothing at all.”

The nationwide shortage only concerns a specific high-dose variant of the flu vaccine, and has been caused by manufacturing issues, he said. Supplies of the normal flu shot are unaffected.

The quadrivalent vaccine provides protection against four strains of the influenza virus. Getting it in place of the high-dose vaccine poses no danger to seniors, Sherlock said.

Influenza is ranked in the top 10 of viruses that can cause hospitalization, he said.

Those over the age of 65 are at higher risk when it comes to the flu, which makes it even more crucial for them to receive some sort of vaccine, he added.

“It’s the bookends – the very young and the elderly are most at risk for hospitalizations. The elderly have a bit of a compromised immune system and the young are just developing theirs … So those are the ages we want to focus on, and we want that population to get the flu shot.”

Regardless of age, however, it is important that everyone get the flu shot before the virus’s annual peak around Christmastime, Sherlock said.

There has yet to be a confirmed case of flu in this area this season, and flu activity has been sporadic across Canada so far, he said. That means it’s hard to say how bad flu season is going to be this winter.

“The World Health Organization makes recommendations to the manufacturers (of the vaccine) based on what they see in the southern hemisphere,” where flu season happens earlier each year – between April and September. “You’re recommended to get a vaccine every year because the virus changes from year to year.”

Vaccines are distributed through Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and roughly 20,000 to 30,000 are given out in a year through clinics and health- care providers. You can also get a flu shot at pharmacies, which get their supply of the vaccine from the provincial government.