A flu clinic that had been scheduled for Oct. 15 for Mountain Avenue Elementary students and parents has been cancelled due to a depleted supply of the vaccine.

“There was a shortage of vaccine. There seems to be very little coming into the area,” said Lynda Burlison, Glendale school district health services coordinator.

The clinic was sponsored by the school’s PTA and has not been rescheduled because the supplier, Flintridge Pharmacy, has not received its requested amount of vaccine.

“Presently we are in negotiation with our supplier [for more vaccine]. We have only received about 16% of what we requested for this year and they are talking about not sending any more,” said Larry Rivera, sales manager at Flintridge Pharmacy.

Rivera said he has contacted other pharmacies and doctors in the area and has received the same response: they are out. The vaccine that has been shorted is for the seasonal flu; the H1N1 virus vaccine has yet to be released, Rivera said.

“And when that is released we don’t know if we are going to get any [of it]. We have heard that the H1N1 vaccine will first be released to hospitals and county facilities,” he added.

Burlison said she was at a meeting on Friday [Oct.9] and was told the vaccines would be available shortly but did not have an exact date.

In the meantime, Rivera continues to hunt for more vaccine and information on when private companies, like his pharmacy, will be able to get their supplies.

Mountain Avenue will reschedule once those supplies are received.

  H1N1, vaccine