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Seniors and other Berkeley residents dependent on the city’s community health clinics for pre-emptive flu vaccines may be left unprotected this autumn due to a production shortfall. 

A spokesperson in the city’s Public Health Department announced this week that the city may not receive its annual shipment of influenza vaccines for months, causing its immunization program to lack the medicines at its clinics at community and senior centers. The vaccines are not expected until early November.  

Hospitals and private physicians’ offices may also be affected by the production shortfall, according to city officials. 

The federal Food and Drug Administration and National Center for Disease Control jointly announced earlier this week that shipments of the vaccines would be delayed due to manufacturing problems. 

Residents with questions or concerns about the availability of the flu vaccine may call Immunization Coordinator Dr. Vicki Alexander at 665-6802 or public health nurse Vera Labat at 665-6829.