DEN BOSCH – Do you need another flu shot? The chance that you will miss this year is increasing. RIVM has stopped all repeat orders as a precaution. ‘Op is really gone’.
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The RIVM had estimated that there would be more enthusiasm for the flu shot this year. But now that GPs are starting the first vaccinations, it is immediately clear that the demand may well be much higher than the extra 15 percent that has been taken into account.
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Reactions are pouring in at the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) and the National General Practitioners Association (LHV) is also starting to worry. In Oss people had to return home without a flu shot, and in Vught it went so fast that the GP there already wanted to order two hundred extra vaccines. But whether they will also come in is still the question. As a precaution, RIVM has temporarily stopped all extra orders.
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Reorder is not possible
And that may mean that not everyone will get a flu shot this year. Because in this case, ” is really gone ”, says doctor and chairman of the Influenza Foundation Ted van Essen. “The flu shot can only be ordered once a year. So just ordering extra is not possible. We have to make do with the stock we have now. ”
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And that stock is managed by RIVM. “This year’s flu shots were already ordered for corona,” says Rob Riesmeijer of the RIVM. An increase of seven percent was estimated, with an additional fifteen percent eventually being purchased. GPs were then allowed to place the order in June. The first lockdown was over, the number of new infections was minimal.
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GPs were advised to order more, with a maximum of 115 percent compared to the number of injections taken in 2019. “But GPs are ordering cautiously. If you are left with vaccinations, you have to pay for the costs yourself, “explains Max Rubens, medical director of the Synchroon care group (partnership of GPs in Oss-Uden and Meierijstad).
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Quote If you are left with vaccinations, you have to pay for the costs yourself
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If you stay with more than ten percent, you pay a fine for that surplus. Rubens himself has been pricking for about twenty years. “I have been ordering the same amount all these years and it always ends up roughly the same. But now suddenly the people who never accept an invitation are also arriving. ”
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It has everything to do with corona
Why the increase? “That has everything to do with corona”, says a GP in Regien Kievits (Vught). People do not want to get the flu on top of corona, do not want to get sick at all and hope that the vaccine will also help against Covid19. Flu also puts greater pressure on the corona test streets and vulnerable people can end up in the already overcrowded hospitals due to flu. These are all undesirable situations and reasons for people to (still) get the shot.
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December the balance is drawn up
General practitioner Geert Elbers in Liempde will not start vaccinating until next week. Is he short? Then he has to wait for the RIVM. Because of the careful ordering from GPs, he still has a stock on hand. “We want to prevent the GPs who inject last from being unable to receive vaccines. We therefore wait with distributing the last injections until every practice has been completed. That will be sometime in December, “said Riesmeijer.
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But there is a good chance that there will not be enough, RIVM now realizes. “It seems that the demand is much higher.” Next week it will therefore be examined whether earlier intervention is necessary. “We may have to give some people priority after all,” said Riesmeijer.
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Quote We may have to give some people priority after all
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Hospitals refer to a general practitioner
It works differently for healthcare workers. They get the flu shot through their employer. It is not regulated through the RIVM. “And we are extra worried about that. Is there enough for them? “, Says Ted van Essen of the Influenza Foundation.
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Quote We hope that enough remains for the staff
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The ETZ in Tilburg and Waalwijk received the guarantee that their ‘standard order’ will be delivered. “But we haven’t heard anything about the extra vaccinations we wanted for this year. Whether we will get it is still the question “, said a spokesperson for the ETZ
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As a precaution, the hospital has therefore now asked the staff to first obtain the vaccination from their own GP. “People who fall into the risk group will receive an invitation through the GP anyway. Previously they would get the shot from us anyway; that was often easier. But we hope that this will leave enough for the other staff. ”
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In addition, in the event of an imminent shortage, the hospital is also considering first offering the care providers who have contact with patients the opportunity to be vaccinated. “And then only after that the staff who are not literally at the bedside.”
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