WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Some Americans seeking vaccinations against the common flu have been turned away as supplies have run short, officials said.

People have had to make extra efforts to get shots to protect them against non-swine flu viruses as vaccine supplies have dwindled in some areas, The New York Times reported Saturday.

"We had patients scheduled; we had to cancel the patients," Dr. Ralph Messo Jr., who practices in Staten Island, N.Y., and Colts Neck, N.J., told the newspaper, saying he received only 150 of the 1,000 shots he ordered.

"It's frustrating," added Karyn O'Malley of New Canaan, Conn., who said her town's flu clinic was canceled this year and its Walgreens drug store also ran short of adult vaccine.

The Times said public health officials and vaccine manufacturers are blaming the shortfall on the need to shift resources to the H1N1 flu pandemic, and on increased demand because the so-called swine flu has raised public consciousness about flu in general.



Copyright 2009 by United Press International

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