Last updated Tuesday, November 3, 2009

At Littauer, we understand your concerns about the limited supply of the H1N1 vaccine. The production of H1N1 vaccines has encountered manufacturing delays on a national basis. However, we are closely monitoring notices of availability of the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines. Recently, our primary care centers have been notified that:

• The NYS Department of Health told hospitals last week that we will likely receive only 1 dose of the vaccine for every 20 doses we requested.
• The shortage means that Littauer’s Primary Care sites will likely receive a limited supply in three to four weeks for its established patients.
• At this point, we do not anticipate receiving our full order of the H1N1 flu vaccine in the coming weeks.

Obviously, we cannot vaccinate everyone who would like the H1N1 vaccine. We are strictly following the recommendations outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Therefore, we are obligated to vaccinate our established patients in the following order:

• Pregnant women;
• Children and young people ages 6 months through 24 years (infants under 6 months cannot be vaccinated);
• People who live with or provide care for infants under six months of age;
• People ages 25-64 years old who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu-related complications (including cancer, blood disorders, chronic lung disease, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disorders, liver disorders, neurological disorders, neuromuscular disorders, and weakened immune systems); and
• Health care workers and emergency medical services personnel who have direct patient contact.

However, when we do receive supply of we will take the following steps:

1. Established patients of Nathan Littauer’s Primary Care Network who fall within the priority groups recommended by the CDC will receive the vaccine first.
2. Our Primary Care Network will be contacting those patients who are on waiting lists and are considered high-risk patients to arrange for the vaccination.
3. Many of our primary care offices have extensive waiting lists of high priority patients and many vaccines are already spoken for.

If you are not an established Littauer primary care patient please contact your physician or county health department.