Our flu vaccine representative informed us yesterday that there will be a major delay in shipping the balance of our order. Apparently there have been some production delays and they are hoping to send out the rest of the vaccine in November. Hopefully.
Somehow this season never runs smoothly, and we do apologize, but so much of this is beyond our control. Still, we realize how frustrating it can be. Believe me, we are frustrated too!. A significant portion of our vaccine is coming through the state now and they are not saying anything about delays, but we are told that production problems may affect that supply as well. It depends on how much they have on hand. We should know more in a couple of weeks.
For now, we do not have enough vaccine on hand to continue booking shots. We have put a hold on making any new flu shot appointments until we have a better idea of when we will have vaccine to distribute. We are not, however, canceling any existing appointments until we get further clarification of the state supply and a delivery schedule for the private vaccine. We do have plenty of the Flumist (nasal) vaccine, so we are strongly encouraging our non-asthmatic patients to consider it. The nasal vaccine is equally effective (and it’s not a shot!), so for now we will continue booking those appointments.
We appreciate your patience and will keep you updated as information becomes available to us.