County Reducing Flu Shot Supply This Year

Ocean County health officials are reducing their supply of flu shot vaccine by nearly two thirds from its peak a few years ago, when its clinics were a mainstay in the effort to provide the shots.

Fewer people are returning to the clinics because of the widespread availability of the shots at places like supermarkets, drug stores and doctors’ offices.

As a result, the county Health Department ordered 13,000 doses of the vaccine this year, compared with 35,000 doses just a few years ago.

About 8,000 people got their shots at Health Department clinics last year.

But veteran members of the county Board of Health recall times when the vaccine was so tough to get, that there were runs on the clinics, resulting in long lines of people anxious to get the shots.

The county had vaccine it could share with health care providers then, recalled Robert Singer, a health board member and state Senator from Lakewood.

"We don’t mind being displaced. We want people to get shots. We don’t want to compete, we just want to fill the void,’’ Singer said.

He said more people are getting flu shots because "the stigma of getting sick from the shots is going away.’’

Dr. Ella Boyd, the assistant county Public Health Coordinator, said the Health Department got a refund for some of the vaccine that was not used last year.

Public Health Coordinator Daniel Regenye said 50 clinics, starting Oct. 12, are planned this year. Four are in the evening and one on a weekend, he said. The schedule is on the Health Department website, www.ochd.org.

Leslie Terjesen, the department’s public information officer, said shingles and pneumonia shots will be available too. Information on wellness programs and Medicare’s Part D benefits will be distributed at the clinics, she said.

Regenye said the county’s vaccine stockpile will also be available if there is an outbreak of the flu at one of the county’s many long term health care facilities.