Supplies of seasonal flu vaccine are running low in the Puget Sound area, depleted by heightened awareness of swine flu and manufacturers’ preoccupation with producing H1N1 vaccine.

A spot check of Tacoma area pharmacies and medical offices Wednesday revealed many at or near the end of their supplies. The giant MultiCare and Franciscan health systems are both running low. Jacquie Goodwill, a spokeswoman for Franciscan Health System, said the Tacoma-based health care provider is down to just 400 doses of seasonal vaccine after having administered approximately 18,000 doses.

“The information we’re receiving from manufacturers is that they are busy producing H1N1 vaccine right now and will return to seasonal vaccine in several weeks,” Goodwill said.

In King County, supplies appear to be even tighter.

“What we’re seeing in King County is very little supply of seasonal flu vaccine at this point,” said James Apa, a spokesman for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “The initial supplies have been virtually all used up.”

Exactly how much of the seasonal flu vaccine is available is difficult to determine because, unlike the H1N1 flu vaccine, retailers and medical providers order it directly from manufacturers.

With H1N1, on the other hand, the federal government purchased all of the vaccine and local health departments are in charge of distributing and tracking it.

“It’s hard to put a finger on the seasonal vaccine because it’s primarily distributed through the private sector,” said Tim Church, spokesman for the state Department of Health. “We don’t have a running count on it.”

The state does purchase seasonal vaccine for children, Church said, and this year’s stockpile is already gone.

“We’ve shipped out pretty much everything we had,” Church said. “We’re told we should expect more late this month or early next month.”

The situation with seasonal vaccine cannot accurately be called a “shortage,” Church said.

“The situation is different community by community,” Church said. “We certainly are hearing from some communities that they are really struggling to find any, but in others there are still signs out advertising shots at the mall.”

A spot check of Tacoma retail outlets Wednesday showed mixed results. Costco was out of the vaccine and has canceled shot clinics. Walgreens stores were still offering shots, as were Target stores.

Only a few seasonal flu cases have been detected in Washington so far this year, but health officials say the seasonal virus will almost certainly run its typical course through the state this year, independent of swine flu.

The question is whether vaccine manufacturers, behind schedule and preoccupied with churning out millions of doses the slow-growing H1N1 vaccine, will be able produce adequate supplies of seasonal vaccine in time.

“At this point, it’s not clear when additional seasonal flu vaccine will become available, since current production capacity is focused on H1N1 vaccine,” said Apa.

The timing of seasonal flu varies from year to year but it typically peaks in midwinter.

“Normally, we see it ramping up around the New Year,” Apa said. “It varies from year to year, but it’s usually in December, January and February. The flu is pretty unpredictable so it’s hard to say what to expect.”

The H1N1 vaccine continues to be in short supply as well. According to data released Wednesday by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, 11 percent of vaccine anticipated had been shipped to Pierce County as of Tuesday.

A total of 61,610 doses of H1N1 vaccine has been shipped to Pierce County so far, most of it going directly to large health care providers and pharmacies.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department already has allocated all 17,200 of the H1N1 doses sent directly to it.

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693

rob.carson@thenewstribune.com