With a shortage of flu vaccines around the province there are some new guidelines when it comes to giving out the shots, or at least there will be once health regions start to get more of the vaccine.

Five Hills Health Region Medical Officer, Dr. Mark Vooght says they used all they had on Friday and will patiently wait for more.

"We appreciate the frustration of the public as they wait for more vaccine. We made a decision to use up all of our vaccine to maximize its coverage of the population and we gave out approximately 435 doses."

The province will be distributing further vaccines this week, however, they are only to be administered to pregnant women and children under the age of 5 years. As part of the new shipment, a nasal spray will be included to try and make up for the shortage of the normal vaccinations.

"It's actually a vaccine and ultimately has the same affect as the injectable one but it's quite different in its formulation." explained Dr. Vooght. "It's a live, weakened vaccine which means it does create a very good immune response especially in children but it is actually licensed for people from 2 to 59."

As the health region gets more information from the province, Dr. Vooght says they will plan more clinics and pass along the information.