BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI staff Lavern Press, East Brunswick, fills out the paperwork to receive a flu shot at A&P. EAST BRUNSWICK — With flu shots hard to come by this season, hundreds turned out yesterday at the A&P food store, which had a limited supply of the vaccines.
Citizens lined up for hours starting early yesterday morning at the Route 18 supermarket, though the vaccines were to be given from 3 to 7 p.m.
The vaccine is hard to come by this year because one of the major providers, Chiron, did not offer any, according to John Dowd, spokesman for the Middlesex County Health Department.
FARRAH MAFFAI staff A crowd waits outside the A&P in hopes of receiving a flu shot. The store was distributing a limited supply yesterday. “We just feel it’s the proper thing to do for the community,” A&P spokesman Robert Carson said of providing flu shots, which the supermarket offers every year. “The supermarket is the centerpiece of the community in many places and with the pharmacy and other things we do, we feel it’s the right move to make.”
Carson said the supermarket was only giving flu shots to persons determined to be at-risk. The store worked with Maxim Health, which conducted the vaccinations. Maxim Health distributed questionnaires to people interested in shots to determine if they were at risk for serious health problems should they contract the flu.
Still, A&P was limited in what it could do this year.
Carson said Maxim Health had only a limited amount of the vaccine and was allocating a small amount for each A&P branch.
“When [the supplies] are up, that’s it for that store,” he said. “Our goal is to give as many [shots] as possible to those who fall within CDC [Centers for Disease Control] guidelines.”
The line outside East Brunswick’s A&P was large due in part to media coverage about the shortage. The store was giving out numbers for people in line who could not receive the shots, and trying to provide people with places to sit.
“It’s a difficult situation and we’re trying to do the best we can,” Carson said.
Organizers were not certain how many shots they would be able to give out.
Estelle Kreiger, an East Brunswick senior citizen, showed up in the early afternoon before the vaccines were to be administered, but was among those turned away because the cut-off was at 185 people, which was met by 1:30 p.m.
She said she was even more frustrated because the township’s Senior Center had canceled its own scheduled vaccinations.
“They left us high and dry,” she said.
A&P stores throughout the state are offering shots through Saturday on a limited basis.
“We do this every year, and we didn’t want to cancel it when this whole shortage came to light,” he said.
Dowd said the shortfall is a national problem due to the situation with Chiron. He said the Middlesex County Health Department is recommending that people at high risk contact their primary care physicians to get flu shots. They can also go to findaflushot.com or call 1-877-962-9358. They can also try (1-866) 234-0964 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The county has suspended all clinics until it can get enough vaccine supplies, Dowd said. It is working with the state and CDC to obtain the vaccines.
He said people at-risk include children 6 to 23 months old, adults 65 years of age or older, people between 2 and 64 years old with underlying chronic medical conditions, all women who may be pregnant during the flu season, and residents of nursing homes and long-term-care facilities.
Also at high risk are children 6 months old to 18 years old who are on chronic aspirin therapy, healthcare workers with direct patient care, out-of-home care givers and household contacts of children 6 months old or younger.
The flu season lasts from October through early April, with the peak months being January and February.