The Victorian health department says it will be rationing flu shots for the state's most vulnerable, as unprecedented demand has led to a nationwide shortage of the vaccine.
More than 1.5 million people have been vaccinated in Victoria so far in 2018, and supplies are now exhausted, Victoria's chief health officer Charles Guest confirmed on Friday.
"This is a problem experienced by all states and territories as influenza vaccine uptake has been very strong following the high season last year," he told reporters.
Up to 50,000 doses of the vaccine have been distributed daily across the state in recent weeks, Professor Guest said.
"We can celebrate, in a way, the fact that we have immunised so many people this season," he said.
"More people are vaccinated than ever before and that will help stop the spread of flu this year."
Professor Guest said the remaining vaccine would be conserved for those "at greatest need".
This includes the elderly, children under five, pregnant women, those with medical conditions and Aboriginal people aged over 15.
He urged those at risk to contact multiple GPs to see if there is remaining stock of the flu shot.
Meanwhile, arrangements are under way to import further supplies from overseas.
It follows a horror flu season in Victoria in 2017, which killed 116 people in aged care, as well as an eight-year-old girl and a Bacchus Marsh father.
