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Swine flu vaccine slow to arrive in Pinellas

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By YOLANDA FERNANDEZ | News Channel 8

Published: October 28, 2009

CLEARWATER - The demand for swine flu vaccine still is outpacing supplies.

Several Pinellas County health care providers, including the Pinellas County Health Department, don't have enough H1N1 vaccine doses for patients who need them.

The Centers for Disease Control reports the H1N1 vaccine is grown in an egg, and it is not growing as fast as expected. Health officials are shipping it as soon as it is ready, in small quantities.

All health care providers order the swine flu vaccine the same way, through Florida Shots, a division of the state's health department.

Children are a target group for the vaccine. Stephen Nelson Pediatrics in St. Petersburg initially ordered 2,600 doses to administer to 5,600 patients. But as of today the practice only had received a few hundred vaccines. Most of those are the nasal mist vaccine, which is not appropriate for high-risk patients such as asthmatic children.

"We're getting tons of phone calls; the nurses are overwhelmed on a daily basis with phone calls looking for the vaccine, asking questions about the vaccine. I think that's probably an issue in all practices right now." said Steven Moore, one of four pediatricians who work at the St. Petersburg office.

Other providers are experiencing the same shortage. Bay Pines Veterans Administration hospital in Pinellas has clinics in 11 counties. It began giving the seasonal flu shot Oct. 5 and averages 700 to 1,500 vaccinations daily.

Bay Pines has ordered 55,000 H1N1 vaccine doses. It has received 200 doses, and those went to high risk patients and health care providers.

Lawrence Diehl, Bay Pines' chief of nursing services, said the hospital is not getting much information on deliveries. "We're not hearing a whole lot as far as that's concerned... We know our next allotment should be in within the next two weeks, but we don't know how much that's going to be or exactly when it's going to be coming in."

Veteran Samuel Kirkland dropped by the Bay Pines hospital flu shot drive-through to get a seasonal flu vaccine. Kirkland said while he would like to get an H1N1 shot, too, "With the statistics being what they are for the young people, I would much rather see the youth get it first and those that are at risk."

So he's willing to wait.

The Pinellas County Health Department also has received a limited supply of H1N1 vaccines, and has not been able to offer them to the public. "We're hoping to have a good supply in the area by mid November," said Maggie Hall, a department spokesperson.

News Channel 8 reporter Yolanda Fernandez can be reached at yfernandez@wfla.com

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