The nationwide shortage of flu vaccine has apparently led to criminal behavior. Country Care Inc., an Easton, KS, nursing home, reported nine doses of flu vaccine stolen last week.

The vaccine was likely stolen sometime over the previous weekend, according to Administrator Tammy O’Donnell. She said it was stored in a refrigerator in a locked room; the vaccine was not double-locked, as narcotics are.

Country Care has vaccinated 11 of 20 residents this year who wished to receive it. The facility has a total of 51 residents.
 
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Friday that nursing home residents in Alabama were yet to receive flu shots, even after a second wave of vaccine was administered Thursday by county health departments. Nearly 24,000 nursing home residents had not been given high enough priority to receive flu shots, said Alabama Nursing Home Association Executive Director Louis Cottrell Jr. He estimated that fewer than 40,000 flu shots are still needed to vaccinate nursing home residents and direct care staff who haven’t been covered yet.