"I've been fobbed off everywhere":

The Zug pharmacies and doctors are having to console some of their patients. New supplies of flu vaccines are not expected until mid-December at the earliest.

"I’ve been turned away everywhere," says a 73-year-old Zug man, who wanted to be vaccinated against the flu last week. There were no more vaccine doses available, his GP explained to him on the phone, and referred him to a pharmacy. But even there, vaccination was no longer possible. "I approached several pharmacies and doctor's offices, but I was told that I would have to wait until mid-December." The pensioner is worried: "As a risk patient, I would like to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Following a heart operation 20 years ago, I have been recommended to have annual vaccinations."

The Federal Office of Public Health also recommends vaccination, especially in the current situation. "It’s unacceptable that the vaccination is recommended by everyone, but there aren’t enough dose to go around," grumbled the pensioner.

National Flu Vaccination Day takes place this week
There is, In fact, a bottleneck in the canton of Zug, as confirmed by Martin Affentranger from the Anklin Pharmacy in Cham, who is also president of the Association of Zug Pharmacies. "There are no longer any large contingents available," he says. A survey of pharmacies last week found that very few had flu vaccine doses, and almost all of these are already reserved.

The influenza vaccination is particularly sought after in times of Corona

People who spontaneously opt for vaccination, including at-risk patients, are currently having to miss out on the vaccines. Martin Affentranger has also had to regularly turn customers away in his pharmacy.

"It's a big problem and the situation is all the more annoying because the federal government has communicated that a flu vaccine makes sense in the current time."

The National Flu Vaccination Day (Grippeimpftag) is also this week, on the 6^th November. "Many pharmacies have deliberately refrained from advertising, as they can no longer offer a vaccination." Some pharmacies expect supplies by mid-December, says Affentranger

Normally ordered one year in advance
Peter Gerritsen, a specialist in internal medicine in Zug and vice-president of the medical society of the canton of Zug (Ärztegesellschaft des Kantons Zug), cannot say what the situation is with his colleagues. "I can only speak for our own practice. Apart from the reserved doses, we don't have any," he says. He describes the problem: "The flu vaccine doses must be ordered one year in advance. They are then usually delivered in mid-October." A year ago, Corona was not an issue, which is why no additional doses were ordered at the time. Gerritsen quickly made up for this, but the delivery has been delayed:

"We expect to be able to carry out flu vaccinations again from mid-December."

About 140 vaccination doses are administered by the Zug doctor per year. But demand is extremely high this year, and the doses were used up within about two weeks, or were reserved in Gerritsen's practice. Such a bottleneck is rare. "The fact that we’ve had to turn away patients for this reason is, of course, unfortunate," says Gerritsen.

The vice-president of the Medical Society stresses that there is no cause for concern, however. "Influenza vaccination is not a prophylaxis against Covid-19." It has not been established that people with a flu vaccine are better protected against the corona virus., There is no increased risk of a severe attack without this vaccination. The flu wave in Switzerland usually doesn’t start before the end of December, usually in January. People thereby need to have a little patience until mid-December. When asked whether people from Zug could be vaccinated in other cantons, the doctor says: "This is basically possible." But the vaccine is also scarce elsewhere.

"There is still plenty of time"
The process for the procurement and distribution of the vaccine is located at the Federal Office of Public Health. "This year, the flu vaccine doses will be staggered by the federal government, and will be delivered over a longer period of time," informs Aurel Köpfli, Communications Director of the Cantonal Health Directorate. "This means that there may be temporary bottlenecks until the new vaccine doses are delivered."

According to the FOPH, 1.75 million doses have been promised for this year, which is about 0.5 million more than usual. "It’s expected that more can be procured," says Aurel Köpfli. He also states: "Even with a flu vaccination in December, there is still plenty of time for the body's immune system to build up vaccination protection. This also applies to people with an increased risk of complications."