Swine flu vaccine supplies will be ‘very limited’ until late November or early December, according to an e-mail from Syracuse University Heath Services sent Wednesday. The e-mail did not give a date when the vaccine will become available at SU.

The H1N1 vaccine has encountered production delays, the e-mail said. As of Oct. 26, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had given 460,300 doses to the New York Department of Health.

The Onondaga County Health Department received only a ‘limited supply’ of the H1N1 vaccine. It was given to hospitals, and the distribution has targeted school nurses and childcare providers for children under 6 years old, according to the e-mail.

Carol Masiclat, spokeswoman for SU Health Services, did not return phone calls for comment Monday.

Health Services ran out of its supply of seasonal flu shots in mid-October after seeing a high turnout of students looking to get vaccinated.

The CDC expects it will eventually distribute enough H1N1 vaccine for everyone in the nation to receive the vaccination, according to its Web site.

The U.S. government has about 250 million doses stockpiled, but has only released about 26,000,000 doses, according to the CDC’s Web site.

The vaccine comes in two forms: a shot or nasal mist, according to the CDC’s Web site.

Locally, Cornell University received 1,600 doses and Ithaca College received 400 doses of the vaccine last month.

adbrow03@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm