Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Shelley Osterloh ReportingThere is supposed to be plenty of flu vaccine this year, so why are some county health departments and clinics out?
Salt Lake County health department has the vaccine, but Utah County does not. Health officials say it's not a shortage but a shipment delay.
The Utah County Health Department ran out of vaccine yesterday.
Lance Madigan, Spokesperson, Utah County Health Dept.: "It's frustrating to us because we say get your flu shot, get your flu shot early, but we don't have flu vaccine to give out."
Madigan says Utah County has received only about a fourth of its order and expects more within the next couple of weeks.
Lance Madigan: "We know that it's coming, we just haven't gotten it yet."
Still other health providers seem to have plenty. State Health officials say it's not a shortage but a distribution problem.
Rebecca Ward, Utah Immunization Program Dept. of Health: "That's what you are seeing, basically a shipping delay where there is increments of shipping coming, people using the vaccine they have and they are in between shipments."
The problem is nationwide, not only in Utah. It means you may need to call ahead to be sure your provider has supplies of the vaccine, or search for one that does. Even if you have to wait a while, health officials are still urging people to get vaccinated.
Rebecca Ward: "The bottom line is that it's not to late to get vaccinated even in November or December; often we don't see a peak in influenza sometimes even until January or February."
