First shipment of flu vaccine received last week, says Windsor-Essex health unit

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) received its first shipment of the flu vaccine last week, and local hospitals, long-term care facilities and retirements have received "initial doses" for high-risk groups.

A WECHU spokesperson said health care providers began receiving initial allotments of the vaccine Thursday. 

"The quantities available for [health care providers] at this time are based on the quantity of our initial shipment," said Michael Janisse, manager of communications for WECHU, in an email. "Health care providers will able to place additional orders in the coming weeks."

Janisse added that pharmacies have yet to receive a stock of the vaccine, saying they'll receive quantities of the vaccine "in the coming weeks."

Hotel-Dieu Grace Health president and CEO Janice Kaffer confirmed in a Tuesday tweet that her institution has already received flu vaccines.

Tim Brady, a board member for the Ontario Pharmacists Association previously told CBC News that Windsor-Essex is expected to receive doses of the flu vaccine later than expected, closer to mid-November. 

"The usual release date is mid-October," Brady said. "But what we're hearing now is possibly closer to mid-November that it should be released this year."

According to Brady, the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends the specific strains of the influenza virus against which vaccines protect, delayed its recommendations by one month, pushing manufacturing of the vaccine later in the year.