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Updated at 5:25 p.m. NORWALK, Conn. – The Norwalk Health Department exhausted its supply of flu vaccine Monday, but department Director Tim Callahan said more is on the way.
Demand has been high in recent weeks for the regular-strength vaccine, which is for children and adults under the age of 65, in part due to an increase in news reports on the severity of the flu this season. So far this season, the department has exhausted a supply of 1,300 doses. The department still has a supply of the high-dose vaccine for those above the age of 65.
“Currently most of our demand is from younger people, adults 40 and younger and children,” Callahan said in an email Tuesday. “We ordered vaccine and expect to receive it [Tuesday]. If so, we will run another session, probably on Friday afternoon.”
The department announced late Tuesday that a Friday afternoon vaccination session will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Health Department, located next to City Hall on East Avenue.
The vaccine is battling three strains of the flu this season: H3N2 (seasonal A strain), H1N1 and a B strain, according to state and local officials.
The department has been running immunization sessions from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays at the Health Department. The shots are covered by Medicare Part B, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield and ConnectiCare, with a card proving coverage. Otherwise, the shots cost $25. The high-dose vaccine costs $50, or is covered by Medicare Part B.
The specific number of influenza cases in Norwalk was not immediately available, but Callahan said that, statewide, the number of occurrences is “greater than the past two seasons.”
In Fairfield County, more than 450 cases have been reported, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the second-highest concentration of cases after New Haven County.
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