Premier says high demand has led to flu vaccine delays, not lack of dosage supply

Some folks woke up to an email from their local pharmacy on Monday, letting them know their flu vaccine appointment has been cancelled due to lack of supply.

Premier Doug Ford said on Monday there are plenty of flu vaccine doses to go around, its just that demand has grown this year. “We ordered 5.1 million, that’s 700,000 more than last year. On top of that, we ordered another 300,000, so a million more doses,” he said. “We have 33 percent of the population, one third of the population has received it.”

“You have to order them in advance,” Ford continued. “We ordered them back in last January. So we’re doing everything we can to make sure as many people get that vaccination as possible.”

“Let me flip this around. Isn’t this great news that we’ve seen an increase of flu shots of 500 percent? People are listening, and we’re doing everything we can,” he added.

Ford delivered a message to those pharmacies cancelling appointments. “You knew the allocations I had, so don’t overbook people. It’s simple as that, you knew exactly how many flu shots you had.”