After the holiday, the supply of flu vaccine will increase significantly
News from our newspaper (reporter Zhao Peng) Under the risk of both influenza and new crown epidemics this year, the city will increase the free vaccination of influenza vaccines for the elderly and primary and secondary school students.
The reporter recently learned that many hospitals and community health service centers are in short supply of influenza vaccines, and citizens need to make appointments as soon as possible.
In order to ensure market supply, pharmaceutical companies such as Kexing Biotechnology and China Biotechnology are working overtime to produce at full capacity. It is expected that the supply will increase significantly after the holiday.
"The human body will not produce antibodies until 2 to 4 weeks after being vaccinated with influenza. Therefore, in the current season of high incidence of influenza in autumn and winter, everyone should try to get the influenza vaccine as soon as possible." The relevant staff of China's disease control said.
However, compared to the "one old and one small" group that can organize free flu vaccination, other citizens have temporarily encountered the problem of making an appointment for flu vaccination.
"Recently, we have made appointments for more than 1,000 people, and the inventory of influenza vaccines is running low. If you make an appointment now, it is still difficult to say when you can get it." The staff of Chaoyangmen Community Health Service Center told reporters.
So in the top three hospitals, will there be more stocks of influenza vaccine?
A staff member of the Preventive Health Department of Tongren Hospital said that their quadrivalent flu vaccine is 128 yuan per shot, but the appointment has been made before the holiday. The new vaccine will not arrive until after the holiday, but the time is uncertain.
As for private hospitals, the reporter called Beijing Mary Maternity and Infant Hospital, and its staff made it clear that their influenza vaccines were also in short supply.
"Our quadrivalent flu vaccine is priced at 508 yuan, but the number of appointments has exceeded 1,000, and the appointment time has been scheduled to mid-to-late October." The staff said.
However, a staff member of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the supply of domestic influenza vaccines is expected to increase substantially this year. The current tightness of influenza vaccines is only temporary, and the supply of influenza vaccines will continue to increase after the National Day holiday.
Facing this year's flu season, domestic pharmaceutical companies are accelerating the production of related vaccines.
"We have been working overtime to produce flu vaccines." The relevant person in charge of Kexing Biotechnology introduced, "As of the end of September this year, the number of approved trivalent flu vaccines has exceeded 2.95 million, and quadrivalent flu vaccines have been issued in batches. The amount has also exceeded 960,000." Sinopharm China Biotech disclosed that after learning of the recommended strains of influenza vaccines announced by the WHO for the new year, it quickly started the production of split influenza virus vaccines in response to the arrival of the influenza season. Demand.
Data as of the end of September showed that the number of batches of trivalent influenza vaccines issued this year exceeded 2.05 million, and the number of batches of quadrivalent influenza vaccines exceeded 3.08 million.
"During the high-incidence period of influenza in November and December last year, about half of the respiratory virus infections in the Children's Hospital were influenza virus infections," said Liu Cuiying, deputy director of the Department of Internal Medicine, Beijing Children's Hospital.
Liu Cuiying also said that currently only a few drugs such as Tamiflu can treat influenza, and influenza can easily induce or aggravate some underlying diseases of the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. Therefore, relevant populations should receive influenza vaccine as soon as possible.
related news
Influenza vaccination electronic map online
News from our newspaper (reporter Jia Xiaohong) The city's free influenza vaccination will start in mid-October, and all will be implemented by appointment before inoculation.
In order to facilitate the citizens to make appointments, the Municipal Health Commission has produced and released a navigation electronic map of vaccination sites, which citizens can check on the official WeChat account of the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The influenza vaccines used in this city this year include the trivalent and quadrivalent vaccine component categories recommended by the World Health Organization.
The self-funded influenza vaccination was launched on September 25 and will continue until the end of February 2021.
From the middle of this month to November 30, the city will successively inoculate free flu vaccines for the elderly over 60 years of age and primary and secondary school students.
The city’s purchase of free influenza vaccines this year has increased by 21% compared to 2019, and the purchase of self-funded vaccines is 2.1 times the number of people vaccinated last year.
A total of 446 free influenza vaccination sites and 480 self-funded influenza vaccination sites have been established in the city.
Citizens who are vaccinated at their own expense need to make an appointment with the vaccination clinic in advance through telephone appointment, on-site registration, WeChat official account and other online appointment methods.
The reporter noticed that in the newly-launched vaccine map, you can inquire about the specific address, contact number, and service hours of influenza vaccination sites.
This year’s free influenza vaccination will be organized by the relevant responsible units, with appointments in batches and time slots.