And then she received a shipment.

“It surprised us,” said Sylvia Burns, director of the county health department. “It was unexpected. We were hoping we’d get some.”

Although Burns won’t say exactly how many doses she has on hand, she has scheduled three flu vaccination clinics for the next few days. And she promises that vaccines will be available at each clinic.

“I’m going kind of by the numbers from clinics last year,” she said. “I know there are more people interested, but that’s the way we split it up. I was trying to get the areas that we didn’t get to.”

The health department earlier this fall depleted its supply of flu vaccine, after only one public clinic.

At that clinic, people stood in line, oftentimes letting members of priority groups move to the front. Priority groups to receive flu shots this year include the very old, the very young and people with chronic health problems. And that will be enforced at county flu clinics, Burns said.

Burns said that at the upcoming clinics, she hopes to avoid people standing in long lines, only to be disappointed when supplies run out.

“We’ll hand out numbers when people get to the doors,” she said. “That way, people won’t be standing for hours.”