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Many doctors' offices across the Los Angeles area are fielding frantic calls this week from patients demanding the swine flu vaccine, only to be told that none is available despite urgent warnings from the federal government that people need to be inoculated.Patients report calling numerous doctors in hopes of getting flu vaccines for children -- who, in general, are hardest hit by the swine flu.Some even plan to attend Los Angeles County flu shot clinics, which begin Friday in Encino and Culver City, that are intended for the uninsured, because they say it is their only hope of getting the vaccine soon.The shortage has come as the flu is surging in California. On Thursday, state health officer Dr. Mark Horton said that the level of flu in the state is consistent with the peak of a regular flu season, and that the predominant strain is the H1N1 strain. Hospitalizations for the flu are also increasing.Horton said that he understood the frustration of doctors, but that he remained confident that enough vaccine would eventually become available. Health officials have also noted that the flu remains relatively mild and that the vast majority of people who get it recover within two weeks.California has received 1.7 million doses of H1N1 vaccine so far out of 20 million doses expected this season.Some pediatricians said they were being inundated with sick children, and some doctors were unhappy about the lack of vaccine.Chad Todhunter, a 33-year-old actor who lives in the San Fernando Valley, has tried for days to find vaccine for himself and his wife Emilee, 26, who is six months pregnant.
"It's nerve-wracking," Todhunter said.
The main problem with the vaccine shortage is that the swine flu virus does not grow in eggs as rapidly as the seasonal flu virus does, which limits the amount of protein that is available for inclusion in a vaccine. Despite repeated inquires by the federal government, the manufacturers did not tell officials about the delay until about Columbus Day.In part because of the shortage of vaccine, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday ordered the release of half of the state's stockpile of 51 million N95 respirators--tight-fitting masks that prevent doctors and nurses from inhaling flu virus coughed by patients.