Some doctors and pharmacists are concerned that the pandemic could trigger a shortage of flu shots on Long Island.

It's still relatively early in the flu season, but already some Long Island pharmacists say they are starting to run out of the senior citizen flu vaccine, which is for people 65 years old and older.

Howard Jacobson, owner of Rockville Centre Pharmacy and two other pharmacies, says he’s already ran out of his first batch of senior flu vaccines.

“We've had a pretty good run on it pretty early on in the vaccine season,” he says. “There's been a lot of publicity about the shot, and a lot of people took it to heart and got their senior flu shots.”

Jacobson adds, “We're definitely seeing a greater demand this year than we did previously. We ordered for this year based on what we had last year, and obviously it wasn't enough because we had to place a reorder, which thankfully just came in today.”

The pharmacist says he thinks the increased amount of people getting shots is due to the increased fear of getting sick caused by the pandemic.

“When it's a bad flu season, the hospitals get overloaded, and with the expectation that there might be another COVID season…that's going to make things even tougher,” Jacobson says.

However, Jacobson says there is no national shortage and there's no large-scale shortage right now.

If you’re having trouble finding the flu vaccine, he suggests that you shop around at several pharmacies, including smaller independent ones. As well, he suggests to get your shot as soon as you can before vaccines can run out again.