Quebec’s seasonal vaccine campaign for 2026 officially began Oct.20, but several pharmacists are saying they’re struggling to meet the demand. They say they’re concerned delays could lead to people giving up altogether. At his pharmacy inside the Galerie des Sources mall, pharmacist Fady Kamel says clients are counting on getting their Flu, COVID and RSV shots, but some have to wait. “We didn’t get all our supply,” he said. ”We got only a part of the supply, so for the ones for the flu shot now, we’re we were well covered. We have lots of flu shots. For the COVID, it is still kind of trickling in.” Kamel adds that the lack of transparency in the supply chain makes it difficult to know when the doses will arrive. “We go on the (computer) system where we order and we had to go every hour or every couple of hours, and we call our head company to try to find out when it’s coming,” said Kamel. Quebec Association of Pharmacist Owners president Benoit Morin says the vaccine campaign is complicated because there are a lot of parties involved. “There’s the federal government, the provincial government, Santé Québec and wholesalers and everything,” he said. ”We are at the bottom of the chain, and we have to fix all the different steps to get the vaccine to our pharmacies.” Santé-Québec said there is no shortage of doses and that it receives doses in three batches. “Everyone who makes an appointment will have access to their vaccine, as a sufficient quantity has been allocated,” spokesperson Marianne Paquette said. Wholesalers, she added, handle distribution. Paquette said 2026 saw around 140,000 more appointments during the same period as last year. “The response has been particularly encouraging among the target groups, especially people aged 65 to 69 and 70 to 74, many of whom are booking appointments,” she said. “These results demonstrate strong participation in the vaccination campaign and the importance people place on protecting themselves against respiratory viruses this fall and winter.” Pincourt pharmacist and owner Zan He says when vaccines come in late, some people just give up. “Often what happens is that we lose them,” he said. ”There’s a patient that wanted his vaccine, but because of the issue where we cannot have them in time, they will simply not have it.” Morin says there’s still time for Quebec to work out the bugs in its supply chain. “We have time in front of us. We have appointments available. There will be more so, but it will be at least until January,” he said. Zan He says the timeframe is not ideal. “If I get them after Christmas or during the week of Christmas, people won’t come,” he said. Zan He says dose delays could also lead to waste. “We always waste vaccines,” he said. ”That’s taxpayers money also. Every year on average, we waste about 10 per cent of vaccines because we don’t get them early enough.” Still, these pharmacists say people shouldn’t give up on getting their shot, even if they have to call around.
