Public health officials are urging everyone to be vaccinated for the flu. But most San Antonio doctors and hospitals are out of the seasonal flu shot.
The flu vaccine is especially important for small children, the sick and elderly, but it's almost impossible to find. We've been hearing from a lot of you asking us to investigate why there is such a shortage of the seasonal flu vaccine in San Antonio.
"I'm twelve weeks pregnant, so I knew it's really important for me to get the flu vaccination." Miyoshi Zuehl should be preparing for her new baby, but instead she's scouring the internet looking for doctors who still has the seasonal flu vaccine.
"I called several different places just in the university health system and there are just no vaccinations left," says Zuehl. She's worried what that means for her and her baby.
"I'll get sick, I'll lose the baby," says Zuehl. "I could even possibly die if either of the flus get bad. So it's quite frustrating."
"Bottom line is there is little to no seasonal flu vaccine to be had." Dr. David Gude with Texas MedClinic says the reason for the vaccine drought is because the manufacturers have all stopped production and are now pumping out the vaccine for the H1N1 virus.
Because of that, many could wind up getting sick this flu season.
"I am concerned that we will see more pneumonia come flu season -- which typically in San Antonio is January and February -- because we haven't been able vaccinate as many folks," adds Dr. Gude.
14-year-old Shelby Herr was lucky enough to get H1N1 vaccine. But her mom, Sig Herr, can't get a hold of the seasonal flu vaccine for her daughter.
"This week, I went to the doctor's office to get the H1N1 vaccine shot which I heard was harder to get. That actually turned out to be the easier one to get," says Herr. "When I asked for the seasonal flu shot, they said they were unavailable and they didn't anticipate getting any in the near future."
For this mother, it's very frustrating because she has heard the warnings aimed at those who skip the vaccination.
"Our government has told us to get the flu vaccination to be protected," says Herr. "As a parent we go out to get the vaccinations and they're unavailable. And they say they're going to do more to get them to every citizen but it's not getting done. In the meantime, our kids are getting sick and there's nothing we can do."
Dr. Gude says Texas MedClinic might get more seasonal flu vaccine in late November, but he's not counting on it.
