Bermuda has had to order more flu vaccine from Canada after shortages in the US put the Island well down on the priority list.

?We?ve had a real run-around,? said senior medical officer Dr. Brenda Davidson. The Health Department ran out of the vaccine last week, and ordered another 1,000 doses from the US via the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), which coordinates vaccinations for the entire Caribbean area.

However, PAHO has been unable to secure doses of the shots from the States, said Dr. Davidson.

?(The order) has been caught up in the shortage,? she said, explaining that Bermuda is not a very ?significant jurisdiction? because of its size.

According to the Centres for Disease Control, the two companies which manufacture the vaccine in the US had made fewer doses this year than usual. Last year millions of unused doses had to be discarded.

That decrease in production, combined with an early start to the flu season and some particularly serious strains of the virus such as the Fujian flu being more prevalent, have led to the unexpected shortage in the States ? which, in turn, is affecting Bermuda.

However, Dr. Davidson said: ?We have identified another source.?

The Health Department has been promised 500 doses of the vaccine from Canada, although Dr. Davidson warned that promise could fall through. ?We?re hoping they?ll arrive next week.?

Fortunately Bermuda has not suffered a flu outbreak yet, she said. ?We?re still getting five to eight cases notified per week. The peak flu season in Bermuda is in January and February.?