The Government is backing down over the flu vaccine, admitting for the first time there are issues in the supply chain.
After weeks of repeated denials, including from the Prime Minister and top health officials. The Associate Health Minister admits the Government is looking at improvements.
And as Julie-Ann Genter also concedes, stock numbers the Government have been using - as recently as yesterday, may not be entirely accurate.
For weeks Kiwis have been told there are plenty of vaccines. More doctors have come forward today saying that’s not true.
“There have been a number of occasions where we've had to turn people down, where that's lead to a reaction from the public and the staff have had to wear that response and frankly, it's simply not fair,” says Tim Malloy of the GP Owners Association.
As admission came just 24 hours after 1 NEWS revealed a leaked letter from the Ministry of Health showing a gap in distribution.
"I definitely think communication could have been better,” says Ms Genter.
The Minister calling it a “misunderstanding” but doctors are going further.
“We believe that the public think one thing, when in fact the reality is another. If that is misleading, yes I guess that is the case,” says Mr Malloy.
“I’ve absolutely heard some frustration from GP clinics and we are actively working to improve the situation,” says Ms Genter.
An acknowledgment for the first time there are problems with buying and handing out vaccines.
“We are certainly looking to improve procurement and distribution of vaccines,” says Ms Genter.
But the National Party’s Michael Woodhouse says it’s not good enough.
“It is just not good enough for the Prime Minister to stand up and says she disagrees with the New Zealand Medical Association."
The vaccination programme has been dogged by problems for weeks now. Delays forcing one doctor to cancel 600 appointments in March.
He says private distributors make it hard to keep track of stock.
"The distributer could tell them how many vaccines had been distributed in Canterbury but not where they'd gone so if there were a thousand vaccines sitting in a fridge somewhere we wouldn't know where they were,” says Christchurch doctor, Angus Chambers.
Yesterday, the Government said there were 700,000 vaccines left but today a disclosure - a chuck of those may have already been used.
“It's possible, but I’d say there are at least hundreds of thousands of vaccines out there,” says Ms Genter.
Being handed out this week are 105,000 flu vaccines but that’s it for nearly two weeks.
“We are just without vaccines for probably 10 days here or maybe longer we don't know,” says Dr Chambers.
Ms Genter says some will miss out.
“While we're going to have a record number of vulnerable people vaccinated, not every New Zealander will get a flu vaccine this year.”
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