The Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency announced Wednesday that it has temporarily run out of its supply of H1N1 vaccine and that the vaccines will not be available through the department until early November.

Spokeswoman Beth Landes said the health department expects to receive approximately 1,000 doses in time for its Nov. 7 vaccination clinic. At that time, vaccinations will be available for high-risk groups. These include anyone aged 6 months to 24 years, pregnant women and anyone who lives with or provides care for infants under 6 months of age. Additionally, the free vaccine will be available to anyone aged 25 to 64 with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications such as asthma, immunosuppression disorders, diabetes, or heart or lung disease.

As of Oct. 22, the county has received 28,640 H1N1 vaccine doses, which were distributed to health care providers countywide.

From Oct. 19 until Oct. 28, the Health Services Agency administered 5,000 free doses at its Watsonville and Santa Cruz clinics.

Landes said that anyone interested in receiving the vaccination sooner than that should contact their doctor.

Anyone interested in attending the Saturday, Nov. 7 clinic should first check for availability. Visit www.santacruzhealth.org/SwineFlu, or call the Santa Cruz Health Services Agency at 454-4343.



For the complete article see the 10-29-2009 issue.

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