Font ResizeSandy Deel's doctor called her three weeks ago and said she'd have to go somewhere else this year for her seasonal-flu vaccination.
"She just said they couldn't get them," Deel said.
But Deel's physician advised her and her mother, Shirley Deel, to get the shot. Shirley Deel is diabetic, and both said they worry about health complications should they catch the flu.
The Deels of Stewartstown searched until learning of a drive-through seasonal-flu and pneumonia clinic Friday at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church on Main Street in New Freedom, sponsored by the York County Area Agency on Aging and WellSpan Health.
As they inched through a line of cars waiting Friday morning, the two worried whether supplies would hold up. After about an hour, they got their shots.
They weren't the only ones concerned, and as some became anxious, tension grew between drivers stalled in
At one point, he called Southern York County Regional Police to help calm the scene.
As vaccines dwindled, WellSpan Health's director of clinical services Bonita Trapnell said she didn't know if the available 360 shots would run out. To fill demand, she said she made a call for an additional 125 shots.
By 11:30 a.m., the clinic workers vaccinated more than 400 people, said Jenny Nace, York County Area Agency on Aging information specialist. No one in line was turned away. However, a clinic scheduled for Sunday in Manchester Township and three others were postponed because of a lack of supply.
WellSpan spokesman Barry Sparks said vaccination providers have been receiving shipments in waves, which might contribute to shortages and confusion about where people can get shots.
"In the past, when we had that supply at the same time, we wouldn't run out of it so quickly," he said.
And the urgency behind producing a swine-flu vaccine might have delayed seasonal-flu shot delivery, said Joanne Sullivan, nursing supervisor for the city's health bureau.
"We have noticed that flu vaccine is in very short supply locally, as it is nationwide," Sullivan said. "We're all in the same boat. We're just waiting for seasonal-influenza vaccine."
Staff writer Mike Hoover contributed to this report.
Clinics postponed
The following seasonal-flu-shot clinics have been delayed possibly until mid-November because of a lack of vaccine:
--- Sunday, Manchester Township drive-through, 3200 Farmtrail Road
--- Tuesday, Door of Salvation Church, 30 E. Jackson St., York
--- Thursday, Lincoln Fire Hall, 800 Roosevelt Ave., York
--- Nov. 5, Crispus Attucks Community Center, 605 S. Duke St., York
Joanne Sullivan, nursing supervisor for the city's health bureau, said the only seasonal-flu shot clinic she is aware of in the near future is 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Gettysburg Recreation Park on Long Lane.
For information about rescheduled clinics, call the city health bureau's flu-clinic information line at 848-4364.--York City Bureau of Health, York-Adams County Immunization Coalition
Traffic jam
Southern York County Regional Police Chief James Childs responded Friday to a call to calm down some overwhelmed and impatient people waiting in line at the drive-through flu-shot clinic in New Freedom.
People started showing up three hours before it opened at 9 a.m.
The problem began when a car broke down in a single lane of traffic filtering into the registration and flu-shot area, he said. A second line also was deemed necessary because traffic began to back up onto Campbell Road.
Childs said he had to warn a man who became angry, profane and belligerent with fire police, who were directing traffic into the clinic in the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot.
"Some people thought they were being cheated by other people who did not wait as long," Childs said, but overall, most people were understanding.
"I think the problem was more people came out than expected," Childs said.
--Mike Hoover, staff writer
