The Arkansas death toll from the H1N1 virus is now at 18 and the health department is making swine flu vaccines available to more people.
At Chenal Family Practice in Little Rock, "I get plenty of people calling in and asking if vaccine for H1N1 is going to be available,” said Dr. Robert Kennedy.
He’s asking patients to be patient.
"We've told people to call once every five days to a week or something. I don't know if were actually going to be able to get vaccine,” Kennedy said.
His office, like many others, has run out of seasonal flu vaccines and keep waiting for H1N1 vaccines.
"It's been difficult to get both kinds over the last month,” said Ed Barham of the health department.
The health department just sent H1N1 shots to pediatricians and OBGYN offices.
"Hospitals and other facilities, clinics and different providers will be seeing their shipments arrive over this next week or 2 weeks. We've singled out some doctors that work with asthma patients. We worked very hard to put the vaccine in the hands of people who need it most,” Barham said.
In the meantime, Dr. Kennedy continues to promote prevention. He just placed a hands free hand sanitizer at the front desk for all of his patients.
"I've seen about 8 or 10 influenza A's [swine flu] which is unusual at this time of the year," Dr. Kennedy said.
His office's goal is to keep that number from climbing.
Nine hundred health providers initially wanted to administer H1N1 shots, but only 600 have completed the health department's guidelines to do so. The health department recommends calling your primary care doctor to find out if it is on the list to receive the H1N1 shot and when they expect to have it available.
