Latvia faces flu vaccine shortage as standard doses run out

Latvia is short of flu vaccines for children and adults, with standard doses unavailable and deliveries expected soon, LSM reports. Family doctors say neither publicly funded nor privately paid vaccines are currently available to their patients.

The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC) said some vaccines remain available: higher-dose shots for people over 60 and adults with moderate or severe immunosuppression, and nasal vaccines for children aged two to 17 in certain health-risk groups. These doses have already been distributed to the medical facilities that ordered them. Standard flu vaccines for a wider group of people are not currently available.

SPKC said demand at family doctors’ practices remains high and that vaccine production in Europe has been delayed. The centre’s senior epidemiologist, Karīna Paklone, said this season’s vaccines contain changes to all three virus components, rather than one as in previous seasons. Reagents and other materials needed for production also arrived late.

Paklone said deliveries to Latvia were planned for the end of this week. SPKC said shipments should arrive in the coming weeks. The centre said people have not missed their chance to protect themselves from severe illness, as the flu epidemic period has not yet begun. Doctors are concerned that delays could mean missed opportunities for vaccination, although the peak of the flu epidemic is still ahead.