Chemists offer 'flu jabs

Doctors in Bunbury have reported a drop in the number of people getting influenza vaccinations this year.

Although fewer vaccinations have been administered at doctors’ surgeries, more people have been getting the jab at chemists offering the service.

Brecken Health Care’s managing nurse Nerida Kelly said she could not explain the drop in the number of patients seeking the vaccination from general practitioners, but suspected it could be due to the late onset of winter weather.

She said there was a reduction in the interest for the Government-funded vaccinations for people in high-risk groups and also the private stock available to the general public.

“We’ve noticed there was a drop since last year, but we’re not sure why, ” Mrs Kelly said.

She said she would like to see an increase in the number of people being vaccinated as it would reduce hospital admission numbers.

“The flu can be very debilitating, especially for people with chronic illnesses, ” she said.

Mrs Kelly recommended the vaccination for people travelling overseas or who had family members with compromised immunity.

Unlike GP surgeries, chemists offering the injection found their clinics had an increase in popularity this year, with some running more clinics than were planned.

Centrepoint Amcal pharmacist Travis Bailey said his clinics were more popular than previous years, leading to the possibility of additional vaccination clinics being scheduled.

“We had a really busy year and our clinic was full, ” he said.

“It’s like people have left thinking about it until the first rain hit.

“We’ve had a lot of phone calls and we are considering running a second clinic in the coming weeks.”

South City Chemmart owner Craig Clark said his chemist also had greater interest this year and had held more influenza vaccination clinics than previously.

He said he recommended people consult a doctor, but he dealt with the people who could not get to their GP.

“We only did one day last year, but we did two this year, ” he said.

Mr Clark had not heard of any cases of influenza yet, but had seen more people with the common cold since the weather got cooler.