BURLINGTON – Vermont health officials are urging patience as a temporary shortage of seasonal influenza vaccines has forced many health care providers to postpone early season inoculation clinics.

Though dozens of flu clinics have been canceled or postponed due to lack of shipments from major vaccine suppliers, Commissioner of Health Wendy Davis said Tuesday said the shortage would be short-lived and that Vermonters should soon have little trouble accessing seasonal flu vaccines.

"We're really experiencing a delay," Davis said Tuesday. "Now we need to ask people to be a bit patient … in locating flu vaccines."

Delivery of the seasonal flu vaccines has lagged behind schedule as major pharmaceutical companies focus their efforts on preparing doses of vaccines to protect against the H1N1 flu strain. The delay has postponed regular-flu clinics around Vermont – the Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice recently canceled 50 private clinics at workplaces and senior-living facilities; Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice has postponed two clinics.

Davis said it's still very early in the flu season and the delays shouldn't have any negative public health impacts. Flu clinics had in fact been scheduled much earlier than in past years, according to Davis, to free up health-care providers for a second round of vaccinations when the H1N1 vaccine becomes more widely available in the coming weeks.

"We are extremely early in the flu season," Davis said. "The difference this year is we all encouraged people to focus on the seasonal flu vaccine early."

Despite being only in the early stages of the flu season, Davis said the prevalence of both strains of flu is unusually high. More than 25 states are reporting "widespread" incidences of flu; Tuesday, Vermont changed this state's status from "sporadic" to "local," meaning health officials have detected increases in the number of reported cases.

Davis attributed the change in Vermont's flu status largely to a rash of outbreaks in southwestern Vermont. Since the beginning of October, the state's health laboratory has confirmed 11 cases of both H1N1 and the regular seasonal flu, though health officials say the numbers mean little since the majority of patients with flu-like symptoms are never tested.

"It really just makes us encourage people who are eligible and who want it to be vaccinated against both strains," Davis said. "People could become ill with both, and that's one of the most compelling reasons for people to get vaccinated."

As of Sept. 30, Vermont had received about 75,000 doses of seasonal flu vaccine. Davis said she expects the remainder to arrive later this month and into November.

Doses of the H1N1 vaccine – a separate inoculation that can be administered either through a nasal spray or conventional injection – began trickling into the state Monday. Davis said the 3,900 doses that arrived Monday will be supplemented with weekly shipments that will introduce tens of thousands of doses over the next few weeks.

Early on, Davis said, the vaccines will be reserved for "priority" groups – which include health-care providers, young children, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions that might make them more susceptible to complications from the flu.

As H1N1 vaccines become more widely available, Davis said, the inoculation should be available to anyone who wants it. Davis said the state should have plenty of doses on hand for the first school-based vaccine clinics scheduled for later this month. Up to 100 public schools, education officials said, will host clinics for students.

"It's great to finally be having the vaccine come into the state and test our distribution system," Davis said. "As vaccine supply increases and we cover those priority groups, we expect to be able to offer it to anyone who wants it."

Pregnant women, school-age children and people with chronic health conditions are first in line to get the vaccines, though infants younger than six months are not eligible for vaccination. Davis is strongly encouraging all residents to get vaccinated against an H1N1 strain that she said could infect as much as one-third of the state's population.

The Vermont Department of Health has embarked on a public-education campaign, convening forums on prevention and preparation at towns across the state. The final flu forum is tonight at the Barre Opera House at 7 p.m.

In addition to promoting vaccinations, officials are also helping businesses and schools prepare for an epidemic-scale outbreak that could see absenteeism rates hit 30 percent.

"We are encouraging workplaces to consider that they may have 30 percent of individuals out at given time," Davis said. "I think 30 percent is a reasonable planning number, but people should take the next step and say what if it went to 40 percent or 50 percent. It's a less likely scenario, but people should probably take the time to walk through that possibility and see what it means for them."

Health officials also have been asking Vermonters to stock up on prepared foods and other necessities in the event they fall ill and need to stay at home for a prolonged period of time.

Davis emphasized that most health people who come down with either strain of influenza will be able to recover safely in their own homes without medical intervention.

peter.hirschfeld@rutland herald.com