Adams County’s health department has been busy all week distributing much-needed flu shots.

&uot;My fingers are sore from giving people shots,&uot; said Sherry Magee, county coordinating nurse for the health department.

Adams County, along with the rest of the state and the nation, has had to cope with delays in receiving flu vaccines from manufacturers.

When Mississippi received its first shipments of the vaccine two weeks ago, they went to gulf coast counties, which are usually the first to see the disease.

This week, 30 southern counties, including Adams, received vaccine shipments. Monday, all counties in the state will begin distributing the shots.

Magee said she expects the Adams County health department to run out of vaccines early next week, but she is also hoping for a new shipment later next week.

&uot;A lot of the doctors don’t have them,&uot; she said. &uot;So we’ve had a lot of people coming in.&uot;

People on Medicaid or Medicare can receive the flu shots free at the health department; otherwise, they are $6.

The state still has not received all of its requested 130,000 doses, however, so health officials are urging people not as highly at risk to wait before getting their shots.

&uot;We continue to urge people at high risk – the elderly, chronically ill and health care workers who care for them – to get vaccinated now,&uot; said State Health Officer Dr. Ed Thompson. &uot;We can offer vaccines to anyone else as well, but we do ask people not at high risk to wait about a week to allow the high risk folks to get theirs first.&uot;

Mississippi’s flu season generally does not begin until mid-December or early January.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has guaranteed the production of up to 9 million does of additional flu vaccine to make up for possible shortfalls experienced by some of the vaccine manufacturers.