The line began at the doors of the Snohomish Health District’s Everett clinic Monday afternoon and stretched the length of the lobby, snaking around a corner.
Chairs were brought out to accommodate the more than 100 people in line for flu shots, many with children in their arms, some pushing strollers.
"I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t find a place to park," Lorraine Larson of Lake Stevens said.
"I thought 15 minutes early would suffice," she said, hoping to be at the head of the line for walk-in flu shots. "Obviously, it wasn’t."
With national vaccine manufacturers saying they’ve run out of supply and flu season striking unusually early, the race is on to find out where there’s any shots left.
On Monday, Group Health said some of its medical centers, including its Everett branch, are out of flu vaccine.
"As of right now, we are not going to be able to ration flu vaccine," spokeswoman Laura Query said.
The health care cooperative has requested 10,000 additional doses but doesn’t know how many, if any, it will get. For now, Group Health members are asked to call a hotline to see where the shot might be available.
"We’re trying our very best to help people," Query said.
The Snohomish Health District administered about 900 flu shots Monday, including an estimated 500 at its Everett clinic. Because of unusually high demand, it was unclear Monday evening whether planned walk-in clinics for flu shots scheduled for today at its Lynnwood office and Wednesday in Everett would occur as scheduled.
Visiting Nurse Services of the Northwest said it has about 400 doses of the shot available at extra flu shot clinics today and Thursday in Lynnwood.
Janet Brown, who was in the flu shot line at the Snohomish Health District on Monday, had gotten her flu shot Friday at the Lynnwood Fred Meyer. "They only had 20 shots left," she said.
Then she began calling around to try to find shots for 2-year-old daughter Brooke and her husband, Phillip.
"I called Bartell and Long’s (drug stores)," she said. "They were out."
"They said this was probably one of the last places," Phillip Brown said. "I should have done it a couple weeks ago."
The Everett Clinic experienced similar long lines Saturday for the first of two days of offering the flu shot to the public. The extra days were offered because of demand and because it was one of the a few health care organizations that had just received 2,500 doses of vaccine.
"It was wild," said Bonnie Neff, who helped organize the event. "We saw tons of people," and administered more than 800 doses of vaccine.
Many people paid cash, which meant they weren’t patients of The Everett Clinic, Neff said. Some drove from as far as Seattle, Whidbey Island and Mount Vernon. Waits were as long as 2 1/2 hours.
"They said they were happy we had it and able to give it to them; their physicians were out," Neff said.
Nearly 23,000 people have gotten their flu shots this year through The Everett Clinic. But Neff said she didn’t think her organization would sponsor any more public offerings because she doesn’t expect to get any more vaccine.
This year’s flu season has hit early and harshly. A 29-year-old Edmonds man died last week after having a flulike illness and testing positive for influenza A in an initial test. More tests are necessary to confirm he had the flu and determine the cause of death.
On Friday, the state Health Department said flu is widespread in the state.
Six people were treated at Valley General Hospital in Monroe last week for flu-related symptoms, and several more patients were expected to be admitted Monday because of the flu, spokeswoman Martha Dankers said.
Ten to 15 people a day are coming to the hospital’s emergency room for treatment of flulike symptoms, Dankers said.
"We’ve had two people in critical care," she added. "The potential is that it can get serious."
Reporter Sharon Salyer:
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