14 days ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - Anyone who wants a seasonal flu shot in Sacramento County is going to have a tough time getting it.
Long lines greeted people arriving at the county's final public seasonal flu vaccination clinic at the Meadowview Pannell Center on Meadowview Road Thursday.
The county was offering nasal mist for people under 50 who didn't have chronic health issues. They also had injectable vaccine.
With the wait to get inside at about two hours and with 600 people in front of him, Bud Ewing realized the vaccine might run out.
"This is ridiculous. We have seasonal flu every year and I don't understand why we have these shortages," Ewing fumed. "I just don't understand why the pharmaceutical companies are playing these games, games with people's health and lives."
Health officials say the rush by manufacturers to produce vaccine to protect people against the H1N1 virus has caused shortages of seasonal flu vaccine.
Two and a half hours after the free county clinic begin, officials were telling people in line they still had nasal mist, but all the flu shots were gone.
"They need to go to their physician, check with the drug stores and other health clinics to see if more shots are available," said County Immunization Coordinator Lynnan Svensson.
Kathy Cameron of Fair Oaks was among those who left with getting a shot.
"We've been here two hours and they just now turned us away," Cameron said. "We were at a clinic last week and waited and they ran out. We came extra early today and still didn't get one. So, I'm just a little bit disillusioned."
Svensson said Sacramento County will start its H1N1 vaccination clinics in ten days. The first one will be held at Hiram Johnson High School on November 16 from 3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
By Karen Massie, kmassie@news10.net
News10/KXTV
