Cape County runs out of flu shots; several clinics canceled

The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center ran out of flu vaccines and is canceling its upcoming clinics, said Charlotte Craig, the center's executive director.

The center started giving flu shots at the Osage Centre on Sept. 18 and immunized 1,100 people during the clinic, Craig said.

"We've got that mass immunization clinic down to an art," she said. "Now if only we had the vaccine to go along with it."

Craig said the center received a partial shipment of 1,750 from its distributor E-Med. She said the distributor told her the Center for Disease Control is directing where the vaccinations are going.

"It's out of our hands," she said. "It's a mess."

Saturday's clinic at Red Star Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau is canceled along with a Sept. 30 clinic in Delta, an Oct. 5 clinic at Oak Ridge Baptist Church, an Oct. 16 drive through clinic at Fire Station No. 2 in Cape Girardeau and an Oct. 31 drive through clinic at the Jackson fire station. Walk-ins at the health department, which were to start Thursday, are also canceled.

Craig said there is a higher demand so far this year.

"I think people's awareness has been heightened because of the H1N1 virus," she said.

Craig said she expects to receive the rest of the vaccine shipment, about 2,000 doses, by early November. She said FluMist, a nasal spray vaccine, is still available. People who are under 49 and do not have asthma can use the nasal spray, she said.

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