PITTSBURGH -- The
Allegheny County Health Department has run out of seasonal flu vaccine and is still waiting for a separate shipment of vaccine for H1N1, or swine flu.
WTAE Channel 4's Shannon Perrine reported that the final handful of doses of seasonal flu vaccine was given out on Tuesday at the health department in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.
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Watch Shannon's Report"Unfortunately, what happened is that the manufacturers -- in their rush to get H1N1 flu vaccine into production -- curtailed their production of seasonal flu vaccine," health department Director Dr. Bruce Dixon said. "Many people got half of an order, with the expectation that they would get some later."
Until further notice, the seasonal flu clinics at the county health department are closed.
"We may get some (vaccine) later. I think that's quite indefinite at the moment," Dixon said. "The supplies, in general, across the country are fairly short. We may be left on the short side this year."
Depending on what kind of regular flu season Pittsburgh sees, there are concerns about people's health with the vaccine shortage.
"It does mean if we have a regular flu season, then we're going to have many people who were not adequately immunized, and so we may have more disease this year than in the past," Dixon said.
Simone Fusiger was one of many Pittsburghers who were searching for flu vaccine on Tuesday. Her 5-year-old daughter got one of the last doses at the health department.
"It was very difficult because we called her doctor, like, five times already, and they've been out, and they don't know when they're going to get it again," Fusiger said.
Dixon advises people to keep calling their doctors, UrgiCare centers and pharmacies to see who has the seasonal flu vaccine.
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