The federal health minister insisted Australia should meet the higher than expected demand for flu vaccines after ordering the additional resources, which are expected to be available in June and July, before the peak period for the spread of the flu this year. 

Two Bendigo pharmacies said their suppliers were struggling to keep up with demand while the Campaspe Shire Council recently postponed its flu immunisation program after running out of stock, which it hoped would be replenished by the end of the month.

Read more: Victoria: Demand for influenza vaccine stretches supplies

Vaccines will be allocated based on urgency and federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said orders from the states were up significantly for this season but the public demand has been even greater.

Last year 8.3 million Australians were vaccinated and it has increased to almost 10 million already in 2018.

"With the extra 800,000, the advice for the chief medical officer is that we are expecting to meet all of the demand under the national immunisation program," he told ABC TV on Sunday.

Mr Hunt said Victoria asked for 1.2 million vaccinations and had received 1.3 million.

Victorian health department data* tracking notified cases of influenza showed last year the highest number of cases by age were for those aged five- to nine-years-of-age, with 4650 cases, followed by those aged zero- to four-years-of-age at 3941 cases.

There were also more than 3000 cases in those aged 85 or older.

However, it showed that cases were dispersed across a wide range of age groups, with those aged 35-years to 50-years also badly affected.

with Australian Associated Press

* Data related to notifications received by the department and did not necessarily reflect the true incidence of the disease. Data presented by residential location did not necessarily indicate where infection was acquired.