Flu vaccine delay frustrating all around

shortages try public and health workers

The shortage of swine flu vaccine is testing the patience of everyone, from health care officials to the general public.

The Kendall County Health Department reports it is getting more than 500 calls about the vaccine every day, and another 70 or so calls a day on the flu hot line. And the Kane County Health Department has canceled its vaccine clinics and shut down its appointment line temporarily, waiting until it gets more doses of H1N1 vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control.

"We have no more vaccine," said Tom Schlueter, public information officer for the Kane Health Department. "It wouldn't be fair to schedule appointments when we don't have the vaccine."

Kendall County used about 5,000 doses of the vaccine the past two days at clinics it ran, and they have about 13,000 more doses.

While community clinics for the vaccines scheduled in Oswego, Plano and Newark have been canceled, the remaining vaccine will be distributed at clinics at the Health Department office in Yorkville throughout November and December.

But when those vaccines are gone, Kendall will be like Kane and everyone else, waiting for more vaccine.

"It's been kind of hectic," said Cheryl Johnson, Kendall Health Department director. "It has taken longer (to make the vaccine) than the manufacturer thought it would. This has made for this uneven distribution. But there's nothing the Centers for Disease Control, or public health officials, can do."

Still, the patience of some people has been strained to the point of accusing health departments of hoarding the vaccine. That charge prompted a Kendall County Health Department nurse to issue a letter criticizing people who criticized the department.

"They said we were hoarding, and she was furious," Johnson said of her employee. "But of all the phone calls we've gotten, there've been maybe four or five instances where people have been inappropriate."

Schlueter pointed out that Kane and Kendall have had shortages "just like every other county in America."

"We're all going through this at the same time," he said. He added that there are about 180 private providers in Kane County who are expecting vaccine dosages, and he is hoping they will get them soon.

"It's been frustrating for people, and I totally understand that," Schlueter said. "It's been frustrating for us."