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Just when you thought you knew enough about flu, a new concern has arisen.
Seasonal flu vaccine shipments are arriving more slowly than expected, and some providers are out of vaccine or running low.
The Visiting Nurse Association of Omaha has postponed flu shot clinics because of the shipment delays. Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare ran out of vaccine at its seven pharmacies this week.
“We are crossing our fingers that we are going to get a shipment this or next week,” said Laurie Dondelinger, a Kohll’s spokeswoman.
Although medical providers generally recommend that people get vaccinated against seasonal flu, that strain isn’t expected to hit with force until January or February.
H1N1 flu vaccine continues to dribble in to the Midwest. The Douglas County Health Department reported Wednesday that local providers had received about 14,500 doses of H1N1 vaccine, the majority of it in the form of nasal spray.
State health officials still hope that pregnant women and others in priority groups will be vaccinated in the next couple of months. H1N1 vaccinations for those not in priority groups would follow.
The reasons for the delay in seasonal flu vaccine apparently involve the effort that manufacturers have made to produce H1N1 flu vaccine, plus strong early demand for seasonal vaccine.
“So that’s a whole lot of vaccine moving through the system,” Donna Cary, a Pennsylvania-based spokeswoman for the vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur said Wednesday. “We have two challenges this year.”
Because of the delay, flu shot clinics at some Omaha libraries have been postponed. A sign at Union Pacific headquarters Wednesday read: “Currently Out of Seasonal Flu Vaccine. More ordered.” At least one Hy-Vee pharmacy in Omaha ran out Tuesday.
Some of the 10 Children’s Physicians offices in the area still had vaccine, while others were postponing flu shot appointments and clinics. Creighton Medical Associates’ primary care clinics still had vaccine for patients.
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics had received only a little more than half the doses it ordered, a spokesman said.
Dr. Mark Rupp, a University of Nebraska Medical Center infectious disease specialist, said manufacturers shifted their attention to producing H1N1 this year, which is “exactly what they should have done.”
Rupp said UNMC and its companion hospital, the Nebraska Medical Center, have received about half the doses of seasonal flu vaccine they expected.
The rest should arrive in November, Rupp said, which probably should provide enough lead time. It takes two weeks after the shot for the body build up protection and six weeks for maximum effectiveness, he said.
The federal Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday that several manufacturers expect to produce 114 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine. So far, more than 82 million doses have been sent, and more is on the way, the CDC said in an e-mail.
“So I would call it a delay rather than a shortage,” said Dr. Gary Gorby, chief of adult infectious diseases at the Creighton University School of Medicine.
“I wouldn’t expect there to be a shortage. More will eventually come in.”
Dr. Joann Schaefer, chief medical officer in Nebraska, said she has heard from providers from Omaha to western Nebraska that they were having a hard time getting their seasonal flu vaccine shipments on time.
“Some people are amply stocked, and other folks are having a hard time getting their shipments in,” Schaefer said.
“Patience is going to be the name of the game for the next several months.”
Contact the writer:
444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com
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