Not enough vaccines available

(NEWSCHANNEL 3) - As flu season approaches the government is worried about its stock of vaccines for the H1N1 strain.

Health officials say they won't have nearly as many doses ready by October as they thought.

The White House ordered 120 million vaccines, but it looks like the stock will be more like 45 million.

That means thousands of kids likely will not be vaccinated in time for the start of school.

For the Grand Rapids Public Schools, each year there is the issue of major communicable disease and this year is no different even with H1N1 on the horizon.

Even though it appears far fewer children could get the vaccination if the government's outlook holds up, the Grand Rapids schools are still simply going to follow the CDC guidelines and try to deal with things as they come up.

Other school districts across the country are trying to plan special education sessions for parents and colleges are devoting time to the issue during orientations for new and returning students.

Grand Rapids Public Schools have already had experience closing two schools thanks to H1N1 and feel like that has taught them a fair amount.

"We tested our crisis response. We have an emergency response that says that this is what you do when you want to close a school as a result of a communicable disease. It went like clockwork. We ironed out a few kinks, but all in all it went really well," said GRPS spokesperson John Helmholdt.

The second wave of H1N1 is suspected to be worse than the first and is expected to strike younger people ages 15-34.