RACINE COUNTY - The H1N1 flu vaccine is not the only vaccine that is hard to come by this year.

The demand is up this year for the seasonal flu vaccination and the supply is down nationally.

Last year at Wheaton Franciscan All-Saints hospital, 3801 Spring St., there were extra seasonal flu vaccinations left at the end of the year that hospital staff destroyed, said David Boman, Wheaton's director of pharmacy.

This year Boman does not anticipate the hospital's seasonal flu vaccination supply lasting much longer. He ordered about 12,000 vaccinations this year, as he has for the past three or four years. But as of last Thursday they only had about 1,000 left, he said. Some offices are completely out and others are running out, he said.

It's definitely a case of higher demand this year, Boman said. This year people have been talking about the flu more and people are expecting to get their seasonal flu shot, Boman said.

"There is a certain amount of fear out in the public to drive that," Boman said.

There is also nationwide shortage, said Seth Boffeli, spokesman for Wisconsin Department of Health. One of the reasons for the shortage is that vaccine providers have switched from making seasonal flu vaccinations to making H1N1 flu vaccinations, Boffeli said.

As of Oct. 20, the Aurora Visiting Nurse Association postponed its community flu clinics because of its shortage in vaccinations, said Lisa Taylor, coordinator for Aurora Health Care's Shoo the Flu & Pneumonia Too! vaccination clinics. Taylor said she hopes to resume the clinics in mid-November, but she did not have an exact date.

The vaccinations are also hard to come by at pharmacies.

Lisa Boerner, a pharmacist at Lakeview Pharmacy, 516 Monument Square, said Wednesday night they had 15 seasonal flu vaccinations left.

But she said after calling around to other local pharmacies, "I think we are the only ones left," Boerner said.

The Walgreens at 4810 Washington Ave. ran out of seasonal flu shots about a month ago, said Pharmacist Rich Kotowski. He said they are supposed to get H1N1 flu vaccinations in the future, but he does not anticipate getting any more seasonal flu vaccinations this year.