As the United States faces the possibility of a “twindemic” of the ongoing coronavirus overlapping traditional flu season, many regions are reporting a shortage of the high-dose flu vaccine specified for elderly patients, various news outlets report.

Experts predict that there will be a 50% increase in demand for the flu vaccine as people attempt to protect themselves, and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection currently report no expected shortage of vaccines, but specialty doses for infants and the elderly are difficult to find for consumers.

The optimal time to get the flu vaccine is late September through October, to allow the antibodies to build in your system before the influenza virus hits.  Pharmacies and doctor’s offices are popular places for patients to get the vaccines, but other providers such as employer health clinics or “pop up shots” set up by hospitals will be rarer this year due to the coronavirus.

While providers are getting initial orders, suppliers appear to be running short for re-orders needed due to increased demand.

“I was told by three distributors that there might not be any supply after the pre-orders are fulfilled for anybody to order, for the rest of the season,” pharmacist Carly Callan of Capitol Heights Pharmacy in Denver told CBS4 News.

Minnesota-based non-profit insurer and care provider HealthPartners told WCCO that it was expecting its supply of high-dose vaccine for the elderly to be delivered until after October 7th.  Another Minnesota provider, Allina Health, was expecting its order of 200,000 doses to arrive by this weekend.