The H1N1 vaccine is in short supply across the nation - and so is the patience of those who want to be vaccinated against the virulent virus suspected in 32 Oregon deaths since late April.

The number of H1N1 vaccine doses that Benton County has received is far short of what health officials expected, and that has left both providers and citizens frustrated. When the state distributes the vaccine to counties, health care providers receive 70 percent of the vaccine; the local health departments get the other 30 percent.

According to Rick Osborn, public information officer for Benton County, local and state officials estimate about 55 percent of Benton County's population - about 47,000 people - fall within an H1N1 priority group: Everyone aged 6 months to 24 years; pregnant women; people caring for or living with infants younger than 6 months of age; people ages 25 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions; health care workers and first responders (emergency medical responders, law enforcement and public safety workers).

But by the end of this week, the county will have received a total of 6,900 doses of the H1N1 vaccine since Oct. 1, which is enough for just 14 percent of the county's "priority" patients.

The state Department of Human Services on Tuesday predicted that it will have distributed a total of about 327,700 doses by Friday, enough for 16.7 percent of those in priority groups.

However, Rebecca Barrett of The Corvallis Clinic said that the clinic has so far received just 1,300 doses to distribute to nearly 35,000 high-risk patients in Linn and Benton counties - or about 4 percent of their priority patients.

Benton County has so far offered its public clinics to school children. Osborn said that the distribution policy, which was developed with Benton County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Thomson, was based on many factors. For one thing, all school-age children fall into a priority group. Children are in close contact with each other in school, at childcare and in social settings, which increases the likelihood of spreading H1N1.

Evidence also seems to show that many pregnant women and families with children younger than 5 also have children in school, and so are being notified of the clinics.

Dr. Mel Kohn, state public health director, has mandated that county health departments distribute their doses at public access clinics to anyone who falls within a CDC priority group.

The Benton County Health Department typically has about 300 to 400 H1N1 vaccine doses available at clinics. Health officials expect about 1,000 people to show up - even with minimal publicity. The most recent clinic, held Thursday at the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis, was only publicized at area schools yet it still attracted far more people than available vaccine.

"All of this vaccine is to go first to high-risk populations, and we are doing everything we can to make sure that happens," Osborn said.

Complicating matters is the fact that the vaccine comes in two forms: injectable and a nasal mist. Some priority patients - including pregnant women and children younger than 2 years old - can't get the nasal mist vaccine because it uses a live, weakened form of the flu virus and is approved only for healthy people ages 2 to 49 years old.

Dr. Lon McQuillan, M.D., of Samaritan Pediatrics, said the office received its first injectable doses of the vaccine Monday - 90 doses. The office has about 5,500 patients.

McQuillan said the office is trying to identify the "most fragile" patients, such as those with chronic lung conditions, muscular dystrophy or congenital heart disease and will be contacting them about getting an H1N1 vaccine. Barrett said The Corvallis Clinic also is contacting high-risk patients.

Since flu cases began picking up a few weeks ago, McQuillan said, "phones have been ringing off the hook."

"Of course everybody worries about their child, so it's understandable," he said. "We want to vaccinate them, but it's so limited."

Children younger than 10 are recommended to get a booster vaccine 28 days after their initial vaccine.

Those may be delayed, McQuillan said, until the supply picks up.

Both Corvallis Clinic and Good Samaritan have been trying to vaccinate health care workers, particularly those who work with the highest-risk patients.