Flu Vaccine Now Available for Those Who Haven’t Had It Yet ; While the Nation Tries to Anticipate a Longer-Range Threat, the Flu Season is Upon Us.

The main part of the flu season is still ahead of us, health officials caution, while the vaccine is more available now than it used to be.

That means that those who want shots should take the time to get them.

Meanwhile, as reports of deaths from avian flu in Asia keep appearing in the papers, the threat of more deadly epidemics clearly still exists.

Doctors note that the holidays are typically considered the beginning of the flu season, as families come together from widely scattered locations.

People traveling on planes, trains and buses are exposed to infection from many sources, and then can pass it on to their nearest and dearest over the dinner table.

Given incubation periods, that means the time of peak flu onset is from the middle of January to the middle of February.

Nevertheless, those who haven’t displayed any symptoms yet can still benefit from an inoculation.

While initial distribution problems meant some flu clinics and doctors’ offices had to turn early patients away without shots, these difficulties have been largely smoothed out.

Those who want or need the shots should call their doctors or local clinics to find out how to get them.

Over the horizon, though, lies a different problem. The Bush administration and world health officials are beginning to address the issue of a pandemic outbreak.

If a pandemic broke out in the next few years, drug companies would not be able to ramp up vaccine production in time to prevent large numbers of deaths.

In Maine, though, there is a more immediate issue – and a way to deal with it. The time for the uninoculated to get a shot is now.