Seasonal Flu Vaccine Shortage

A clinic at UMD for the seasonal flu shot has been cancelled because there's shortage of the vaccine.

Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccine company supplying these shots to parts of St. Louis County. They sent a letter to the county yesterday, saying they haven't been able to make enough vaccines to fill their orders. The company says it's because they're trying to make two vaccines at the same time--the seasonal flu vaccine and the one for H1N1 strain. They say the shots should be available within a month, but some UMD students don't want to wait that long.

"In a college setting, it would probably be easy for the flu to spread," said Ben Jaungbauer, a UMD senior. "And I guess if no one's vaccinated that could be a bad thing."

"If one of us gets sick, we're all going to get sick, so that obviously has me worried," said Andrea Schmidt, a UMD junior. "I've gotten a flu shot every year since I can remember."

"It makes me nervous that people have the flu, but the school is taking precautions to help us not get the flu," said Sarah Theroux, a UMD senior.

There was also a flu clinic in Solon Springs, Wisconsin planned for this Thursday. That one has been rescheduled due to delays in vaccine shipments. St. Louis County says they don't usually offer the seasonal flu vaccine this early, but more people want it right now, which is contributing to the shortage. But the vaccine should be here by next month--in plenty time to fight off the regular flu, which usually hits in February.

While some vaccine are experiencing supply shortages, others do have enough in stock and are proceeding with their shipments as planned.