By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The state Department of Public Health is planning to wrap up a statewide survey for flu vaccine Tuesday. The survey started Monday. The department tried to contact seven thousand physicians, pharmacies, hospitals and assisted living centers to see how much vaccine they have and how much they need. State Health Officer Don Williams says the information will be used to get vaccine to areas that most need it. Healthy adults have been asked to defer receiving their flu shots,so the elderly and other high-risk patients can get immunized. Meanwhile...national health officials are urging the public to stay patient -- as states continue to report a shortage of flu shots for high-risk populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta also says some parts of the country may NOT even have a supply of flu shots yet. But those shipments are reportedly on the way. Officials would not say which states are running low on shots. The vaccine shortage started earlier this month when British regulators stopped shipments from a company sending 48 million shots to the United States. Some batches of the vaccine from that company were apparently contaminated.