Oct. 20--LIMA -- The demand is high, so people might have to wait. More people want a seasonal flu shot this year, so there isn't enough to go around. Many could be waiting into late November, health officials said Monday.
"The same amount is being manufactured, but with all the talk about the flu, the demand is up quite a bit," said David Rosebrock, Allen County health commissioner.
People who never took the vaccine before want it this year, said Sherri Recker, director of nursing at the Putnam County Health Department.
"I think people have been more informed through the media about getting it," she said.
The Putnam County department canceled flu vaccine clinics scheduled for Friday at the Fort Jennings State Bank in Ottoville and Fort Jennings. It has already run out of the vaccine.
The department received most of what it ordered from a private company for adults, but the demand is high. It received about 40 percent of its order from the state for children. It expects more, Recker said, but likely not until later in November.
"Doctors in our county have not been getting their full orders either," Recker said. "I think it will be difficult for our office to fulfill the whole need of the county."
Allen County is almost out of the vaccine coming from the state for lowincome people and those with no other options. It wasn't able to get the vaccine for its usual county employee health fair and other clinics.
"We waited too long and could not get any," Rosebrock said.
The Auglaize County Health Department is usually just now beginning its flu vaccine campaign, Commissioner Charlotte Parsons said. Instead, it ran out of its adult vaccine in one day last month. It has just a few doses for children left. "The demand is coming a lot earlier," she said. "There is much more attention in the media to the flu, and also we have had a lot of people sick, especially kids."
Part of the demand comes from worry about H1N1 virus. Many are getting the seasonal flu shot while waiting for the swine flu vaccine, Rosebrock said.
The county received a few hundred doses of the H1N1 vaccine, but most have gone to health care providers, and some to local pediatricians.
The health department expects to get a few hundred more doses this week, although Rosebrock said he can't be sure. The department had anticipated holding larger clinics for people to get the vaccine and offering it to local schools this month. It won't happen until November now.
"People just need to hang on," Rosebrock said. "The situation changes week to week."
Putnam County had H1N1 mist that went to health care and emergency personnel. Recker said she hopes the shots will arrive in the next few weeks. Auglaize County received a limited supply.
Residents can preregister for the H1N1 vaccine at www.flu.ohio.gov. It gives officials a better idea of how many want the vaccine, Rosebrock said.
Health officials stress the need to follow precautions, including frequently washing hands with soap and water, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and staying home when sick.
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