The shortage of swine flu vaccines has people and doctors frustrated. Texas MedClinic has received only a fraction of the supply they requested, but today they started giving out what they have.
"We've been getting calls for weeks from people asking if we have it yet," said Texas MedClinic's Chief Operating Officer Dr. David Gude. "We finally have our first shipment. But we requested 35,000 doses and only received a few thousand. So we will probably run out in a few days."
Marie Osterander and Sheryl Toms both have health conditions that put them at risk. They've been trying for weeks to get the vaccine. "My doctor ran out," said Toms. Both women were able to get vaccinated today."My doctor called me this morning and told me they had the vaccine at this Texas MedClinic and we came here right away," said Osterander.
"My gynecologist had not received her shipment and she was adamant that i get the swine flu shot as soon as possible," said Christine Gish. She is 10 weeks pregnant and like children between the ages of 6 months and 24,she's in the high risk group that the CDC says should get the H1N1 vaccine.
As people fill out a form, they're told of the high risk groups that include health and child care workers who should get priority for the vaccine. But everyone who shows up at the two Texas MedClinics that are offering the vaccine are getting vaccinated."We can't really police this we feel. We're providing the information and asking people to self select but we're not turning anyone away," said Dr. Gude.
Because they've only received a few thousand doses, Texas MedClinic is only offering the vaccine at two of their ten locations. One is on Eisenhauer Road and IH 35, the other on IH 10 and Wurzbach.
TEXAS MEDCLINIC H1N1 VACCINE CLINIC LOCATIONS:
San Antonio Locations:
Texas MedClinic Wurzbach Clinic
The Colonnade Shopping Center
9885 IH 10 West
San Antonio, Texas 78230
Texas MedClinic Eisenhauer Clinic
7460 IH-35 North (Just north of Eisenhauer)
San Antonio, Texas 78218
New Braunfels Location:
New Braunfels Clinic
958 I-35N
New Braunfels, Texas 78130
Austin Location:
Southpark Meadows
9900 South IH 35
Austin, Texas 78748
Note from Texas MedClinic:
Texas MedClinic strongly urges patients to self select following the guidelines created by the Center of Disease Control. These guidelines indicate the high risk groups that should receive the vaccine, they are as follows:
- Pregnant women
- People six months to 24 years of age
- People 25 to 64 years of age with chronic illness or immune problems
- Health care workers
- People who live or care for children younger than six months
The shortage of swine flu vaccines has people and doctors frustrated. Texas MedClinic
