Hill County feeling the effect of flu vaccine shortage

Statewide supplies of flu vaccines are stretched thin, and the Hill County Health Department is feeling the shortage.

"We have a waiting list of about 200 people," said county health director Cindy Smith.

This season the flu has hit earlier and harder than some experts anticipated, and more people are seeking flu shots than in the past several years, resulting in a statewide shortage of available vaccine. Although most people recover from the flu, it can be fatal in some cases. On Monday, a preliminary test from a 21-month-old boy who died in a Missoula hospital was positive for Influenza-A.

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