Louisville residents frustrated over delay in getting swine flu vaccine

(WHAS11) - A lot of parents are still watching and waiting and wondering what’s taking so long for the swine flu vaccine.
 You can’t find the vaccine readily available in Louisville, but nearby counties have already started giving it away.
 
 
People in Louisville want their swine flu vaccine and they want it right away, not a month from now, which is when Metro Health plans to hold its first swine flu clinic. In the meantime, residents are taking matters in their own hands.  
 
 The Bullitt County Health Department had to shut down its swine flu clinic an hour and a half early after running out of doses. That means Michelle Gaskin will have to bring her 11-month-old grandson Caleb back on the next clinic day.
“They talked like they had enough doses to start with for chronic conditions, which I know the general public can't come to. But he was born at 25 weeks and almost died from influenza last spring,” Gaskin said. 
 
Louisville residents are also fleeing across the river to New Albany to get the swine flu vaccine instead of waiting for Metro Health to schedule dates. Floyd County also ran out of doses over the weekend.
“At the clinic last Saturday we did over 250 pre-school children, 29 of those were from Jefferson County and we had a handful from other counties in Indiana,” Dr. Tom Harris, the health officer for Floyd County, said.  
 
With the vaccines being at a national shortfall, clinics are not turning anyone away and doctors are reluctant to say whether or not it's not fair for people to be crossing counties.  
“The only downside is the vaccine allocation is based on the population of the county. So we're giving vaccines to people outside the county. But it's a federal program so it makes no sense to turn people away,” Harris said.
 
Metro Health told WHAS11 News they have gotten 11,000 doses of the vaccine so far. They’ve given it to health care workers and providers. But no public or school clinics will be scheduled until mid or late November.   

Metro Health says they’re feeling the pinch like everyone else, waiting for the manufacturer to make more doses. But according to the CDC website, Indiana has been shipped far more doses of the vaccine than Kentucky.