Flu Shot Resupply Is 6-8 Weeks Away

With most California drugstores and supermarkets set to run out of the flu vaccine by the end of the weekend, public health officials said it could be six to eight weeks until the state receives more medication and creates a system for distributing it to those in need.

In response to a nationwide shortage of the flu vaccine, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan to send 22.4 million doses of the drug to clinics, doctor’s offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities that can direct the drug to “high-risk” patients.

But officials said the CDC has yet to tell counties how many doses they have been allotted, and local health departments are still trying to figure out how to route patients to inoculation sites.

“It’s a very complicated issue,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Jonathan Fielding. The CDC is “trying to go through an analysis of how much was distributed to different ZIP Codes. Our hope is that we will get this resolved sooner rather than later to reduce the anxiety. There’s no guarantee that everyone will get the vaccine,” even those at high risk.

Fielding and other health officials again urged people not to panic, stressing that the flu season doesn’t begin until late December, which leaves plenty of time to get shots.

Local and federal officials have implored healthcare providers to give the vaccine only to high-risk patients, including senior citizens, pregnant women, young children and those with weak immune systems.

The Albertsons grocery store in Santa Ana had enough flu vaccine to inoculate 210 people Friday. Harmon Ginsburg missed his shot by one person. He was No. 211.

The lanky 83-year-old had driven 27 miles from Ontario and jumped into line at 9:15 a.m., 45 minutes before the flu clinic opened. The line stretched out the door, down the side of the store and around the corner. The parking lot was jammed. The produce section was nearly empty.

Ginsburg was out of luck. So was Irene Bible, waiting behind him and hoping that somehow there would be vaccine left over.

“I should have gotten here at 4 a.m.,” the 79-year-old said.

At the Sav-On drugstore in Temple City, more than 400 people lined up even though the store had just 250 doses. Some in line said they had been searching for a flu shot for days and were worried it could be their last chance until more shipments arrive.

“If I don’t get one, I’ll have to eat quite a few vegetables,” said Robert V. Hewitt, 78. “I’ll take my chances. I’ll say my prayers.”

Sav-On, Costco, Longs and Walgreens were supplied with vaccine by Maxim Health Systems, which announced earlier this week that it would run out of flu shots this weekend.

The shortage was triggered after British regulators suspended the license of a pharmaceutical plant in Liverpool because of manufacturing problems and possible contamination. The plant, which makes the flu vaccine for Chiron Corp. of Emeryville, Calif., had expected to supply half the U.S. market by producing 46 million doses.

Until now, doctors who did not have the vaccine urged patients to go to retail stores for shots, even if it meant waiting in long lines.

But with most of these clinics closing their doors, health officials said that high-risk patients would have to wait until more of the drug is shipped to California.

The CDC struck a deal with Aventis Pasteur, another manufacturer of the flu vaccine, to distribute what’s left of the drug to health professionals who can quickly route it to those who need it most.

Fielding said it could be a month or more before those doses start arriving. He recommends that those who need a shot keep in touch with their doctors and also ask friends and relatives whether their physicians have extra doses.

About 2.8 million people in Los Angeles County alone fall into the high-risk category. Ordinarily, about half of them turn out for flu shots, but health officials expect a larger number this year because of media attention.

“People who didn’t want to get flu shots in the past suddenly want it. It doesn’t make sense,” said David Ramin, a West Los Angeles doctor who has no idea when to expect his pre-ordered shipment of vaccine.

Nursing homes are among the places in greatest need of the vaccine.

At the Hillcrest Royale in Thousand Oaks, fewer than two dozen residents out of 130 have managed to get shots, administrator Gilliana Sherman said. On Wednesday, Kaiser Permanente sent out a nurse, who inoculated only the 20 elderly residents who are subscribers to its plan, she said.

With so much uncertainty, Sherman said the mood at the facility is tense. Attempts to get vaccine through private doctors has proved futile because none have the vaccine.

Residents have been asking nearly every day when doses will become available. Standing in long lines outside grocery stories is impossible for most the residents, who are in walkers or not mobile, Sherman said.

“We don’t want to lose anyone because of the flu,” Sherman said. “They are so frail.”

It was much the same at Garden Crest Convalescent Home in Silver Lake.

Lorraine Perkins, director of nursing, said the pharmacy she ordered flu shots from told her they would arrive in six to eight weeks.

In the meantime, she has instructed staff to stay home if they have so much as a cough or sniffle.

The home’s November newsletter, Perkins said, informs relatives that they must check in at a nurse’s station under strict new visiting guidelines to protect the health of her 72 mostly bed-bound residents in their 80s and 90s.

“I’m going to get those shots. Trust me,” she added, “I’ve been at this place for 12 years, and I guard these residents with my life.”

On Wednesday, a 79-year-old Bay Area woman who stood in line more than four hours for a flu shot collapsed and died after striking her head.

“I am personally very sorry for the loss of life in the vaccine clinic in California,” said CDC Director Julie Gerberding, adding that reports of lengthy lines underscore the need for a careful national response to the shortage.

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Times staff writers Wendy Thermos, Catherine Saillant and Jonathan Peterson contribute to this report.