Regional Health Department Reports 200 Seasonal Flu Vaccine Doses Left

The scene Wednesday night at Garwood Borough Hall where more people showed up than flu shots were available from a Westfield Regional Health Department clinic is not uncommon.

Health Officer Megan Avallone said this year the regional department received less than needed doses of the vaccine for the seasonal flu. She said she had to base her order last February based on the amount usually needed in past years and did this before the outbreak of H1N1 flu. She said the department currently has 200 doses left to serve residents in the multiple communities the department works in.

"They are not producing the vaccine anymore," she said." All of the drug companies were forced by the federal government to stop with seasonal flu and produce H1N1 vaccine."

The regional health department serves Westfield, Fanwood, Summit, Garwood, Mountainside, Springfield and Roselle Park.

She said private doctors have been running low on the vaccine sending people to flu shot clinics being sponsored by public health agencies. She said most of the clinics she has seen sponsored have a large number of people attending, usually more than there are vaccines.

Avallone said there were approximately 130 vaccines at the Garwood clinic and while she did not have an exact count of the number of people who showed up, one attendee approximated the attendance at around 300. The line stretched from the entrance of Borough Hall at the intersection of Center Street and South Avenue, around the building, and then down South Avenue headed towards the Westfield town line.

"We were short when we opened the doors," Avallone said of the scene Wednesday in Garwood. "This year there is more interest in getting the vaccine because of the attention flu has been getting."