Some Valley counties can't meet flu shot demand

Published online on Thursday, Oct. 01, 2009

Waiting for the swine flu vaccine? Well, you might have to wait a bit longer for a seasonal flu shot, too.

The biggest makers of seasonal flu vaccines in the U.S. are running into delays or cutting back shipments -- partly because of the crunch to produce millions of doses of the new swine flu vaccine.

Drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur said it has shipped more than half of the 50.5 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine ordered and it could be November before some U.S. customers get the rest of their shipments.

Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Thursday their shipments are on schedule. But they've told customers they may get about 10% less than ordered.

The three companies account for about 100 million of the nation's expected 114 million doses.

In the central San Joaquin Valley, health officials say they have been affected by the delay. Some health departments have scheduled seasonal flu clinics for this month, but have yet to get all of the vaccine.

Madera County hadn't received any seasonal flu vaccine as of Sept. 30.

Kings County had to cancel five scheduled flu clinics because it didn't have vaccine. The state received a large shipment that could not be sent to counties because it was not held at the required low temperature, said Keith Winkler, health officer for Kings County. The state is evaluating the shipment to see whether it can still be used, he said. But in the meantime, Kings County had no vaccine for clinics scheduled for Kettleman City, Corcoran, Home Garden, Hanford and Armona this week and next.

Tulare County ran out of vaccine at a mass drive-through shot clinic Thursday. The county gave 3,300 shots. It had expected about 2,000 people to show up.

"Unfortunately, we did have to stop our lines early in all three clinics because we ran out," said Dr. Karen Haught, the Tulare County health officer.

California health officials said they had expected earlier shipments of seasonal flu this year. "That expectation has not been met," said Dr. John Talarico, chief of the state Department of Public Health's immunization branch.

Every year, there's a difficult period when there's not enough supply of seasonal flu vaccine for everyone, said Dr. Robert Schechter, the immunization branch section chief.

The delay isn't surprising nor cause for big concern, said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 70 million of the expected 114 million doses already have been delivered, he said.