No end in sight to vaccine shortages
On April 7, the Bedfordview clinic received 20 doses of the 600 they initially ordered.
Some private baby clinics in Bedfordview are still unable to vaccinate patients due to a lack of access to state stock.
On Wednesday, April 13, the NEWS reported that parents of newborn babies were concerned about their children being left vulnerable to illnesses after clinics reported a shortage in Hexaxim.
The six-in-one vaccine is administered to babies between the ages of six and 14 weeks.
One of the affected private practitioners, who did not want to be named, said the backlog of babies needing the vaccine keeps increasing.
“It has been four months now since we started experiencing this problem and no end seems to be in sight. These babies are being exposed to the elements without being properly vaccinated and that is a problem. A bigger problem is that no one seems to care,” she said.
In order to promote private-public partnership on the vaccination of children, the Gauteng Department of Health has entered into a contract with private providers to vaccinate children who visit their practices.
On March 23, departmental spokesperson Mr Steve Mabona said there had been a shortage of supply of Hexaxim from the supplier.
“This resulted in the minimal quantities being supplied to the facilities. At this stage we have not received any specific complaints from any of our other facilities,” said Mr Mabona.
On April 7, the Bedfordview clinic reportedly received 20 doses of the 600 they initially ordered.
“I don’t understand why they are getting so few and sometimes nothing when other clinics in Ekurhuleni [Metropolitan Municipality] are receiving enough to also provide for their private practitioners. I think this is not right as the Bedfordview clinic is so far behind in catching up. It is now four months and nothing has changed. The patients are in an uproar,” said one of the practitioners.
Speaking for the municipality, Mr Zweli Dlamini said over the past year the immunisation schedule has changed to accommodate new vaccines and has created a delay from the suppliers due to increased demand. This has resulted in clinics periodically experiencing vaccine supply shortages.
