Truckloads of swine flu vaccines returning to Albany

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Truckloads of swine flu vaccines are coming back to Albany, returned by counties who say the expected demand for the shots never happened.

The state last fall made a concentrated effort to vaccinate people against the H1N1 strain of flu and there was an initial fear that there wouldn’t be enough shots to go around.

But state Health Department spokeswoman Claire Pospisil says two trucks went out this week to pick up unused vaccine and bring it back to state refrigerators in Albany. Pospisil says the state is managing the supply and doses will be redistributed as needed.

Brandi Wells, emergency service coordinator for St. Lawrence County, says she’s holding on to 4,200 unused shots for neighboring Clinton County, which didn’t have room to keep them.