The Lincoln County Department of Health is encouraging parentsto bring their children in for flu vaccinations but cautions thesupply is limited.

Office manager Nelline Reed estimated the county hasapproximately 100 doses of vaccine available for children. Thedoses, however, are going fast and she could not say when morewould be available.

“We’ve given quite a few,” she said. “We’re sure we’ll get somemore in. We just don’t know when that might be.”

The Brookhaven clinic is allowing shots for all children betweenthe ages of 2 months and 18 years.

Adult vaccines remain unavailable, Reed said, and includingthose for high-risk individuals, such as people over age 65 andthose with compromised immune systems.

“We don’t have any for adults, and we don’t know when we will,”she said. “I couldn’t even make a guess when we might because (thestate Health Department) has not told us anything.”

The shortage of flu vaccine is being felt nationwide. Only weeksago, state health officials were encouraging everyone to getvaccinated in October or November because a large number of dosesof the vaccine was ordered in response to last year’s crisis.However, British regulators unexpectedly shut down a major fluvaccine supplier a week ago, citing manufacturing problems at theChiron Corp. factory in England, where roughly 46 million doses, ornearly half the U.S. supply, were made.

Liz Sharlot, communications director for the state HealthDepartment, said the department has received 24,000 doses of thevaccine that were immediately shipped to 109 clinics statewide.

“As it comes in, we ship it out based on population,” she said.”We are already vaccinating at all clinics for those high-riskchildren.”

Health officials are advising people that the shortage is not anemergency. The government has encouraged voluntary rationingbefore.

Reed said more parents seem to be aware of the flu risk tochildren this year because of the shortages in the past two years.A large number of parents have been visiting the clinic tovaccinate their children and have been calling to checkavailability, both for their children and themselves.

“More appear to be coming in this year,” she said. “We startedgiving flu shots to the children Monday, and it seemed we reallyhad an overflow of parents wanting to get their children covered.Our phone is constantly ringing.”

According to The Associated Press, many of the nation’s scarceremaining flu shots will be shipped directly to pediatricians,nursing homes and other places that care for high-risk patientsunder a plan negotiated between the government and maker AventisPasteur.

Under the plan announced Tuesday by the CDC, Aventis will directshipments of its remaining 22.4 million doses to health workers whocare for patients that the CDC deems at highest risk of death orhospitalization from influenza, the AP reported.

Reed said she was unaware if any local physicians were part ofthose direct shipments.

“I haven’t heard what doctors, if any, have any vaccine,” shesaid. “I think most of them are referring people to us.”

High-risk patients depend on flu shots because the vaccines aremade from killed influenza virus. Normal-risk adults have theoption of using an inhaled flu vaccine, MedImmune Inc.’s FluMist,which is available for healthy 5- to 49-year-olds and made fromlive, but weakened, influenza virus.

A flu treatment called Tamiflu is also available for healthyadults. It can protect against infection if taken daily during anoutbreak.