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Last updated on Wednesday, October 29, 2014
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Pharmacies say they are prepared to handle patients despite a delay in flu vaccine shipments.
Whether it was big chains like Walgreens, down to the locally owned, pharmacies told WISH-TV that they are plenty stocked.
And one in particular feels that's where people should be lining up to get vaccinated - especially in the next few weeks.
"This is just a sample of some of the stock items that we currently have available," said pharmacist Kurt Moyer as he sorted through a bin filled with different flu vaccines.
He says there's plenty more where that came from at Dr. Aziz clinic on Indy's North Side where he is the Director of Clinical services.
"There was a report of a delay in the shipments of the FluMist and that offices didn't have it available and that you needed to call ahead," he said. "So we immediately checked our stock made sure that we had plenty available for clients that would be coming in."
They're also prepared to order more vaccines if necessary, which Moyer said could happen with November around the corner.
"We're moving into that time period where a lot of the offices will be running out of their supply and simply just don't reorder and start referring patients on," Moyer added.
But some are still waiting for those initial shipments. IUPUI had to postpone flu vaccine clinics until the end of October because of the delay.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the overall nationwide supply is ten million doses behind.
"There might be a little delay but keep checking. We understand it's on its way," said Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the CDC.
In the meantime, the Indiana State Health Department is urging doctor's to refer patients to pharmacies if they're worried their stock is running low. Several patients didn't have that problem at Dr. Aziz Clinic. In fact, it can serve even more people thanks to a new vaccine.
"This year we do also have egg free so patients in the past didn't get their flu vaccine because they had an egg allergy, they do now have an option for this year," said Moyer.
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