SURGERIES in the Forest have run out of flu vaccine following a surge of patients came in for the treatment after the holidays.

It seems unlikely that some surgeries will be able to restock in the near future and at-risk patients, including those over 65 and asthmatics who use steroid inhalers, will take priority for the few vaccines remaining.

Sally Charlton, practice manager at the Cinderford Health Centre, said it was the first time in 10 years that they had run out of the seasonal flu vaccine.

"I always order more vaccine than we used the previous year, and every year we end up sending back 10 per cent of our order that we haven't used.

"This is the first time we've had to rely on our reserve stock. It took a week to get hold of it because the supplier was inundated and were not answering their phones or returning messages.

"I've never known a January like it."

Sally said they had started their vaccination campaign in October as usual, but many people had declined to have it.

"This autumn we have vaccinated more than 70 per cent of the over-65s, and over 90 per cent in some of the under-65 at-risk groups of patients," she said.

"We were down to a few vaccines which all had been allocated to patients.

"We are now getting half of our reserve delivered which will cover all those on the waiting list."

Practice manager at Lydney Health Centre Linda Vaughan said it felt as if this year was busier than last.

She said: "We ordered enough vaccines for all the at-risk patients as we are required to by the health service. Demand has increased since flu has been in the news, but I don't know whether there has been an actual increase in cases of flu."

The sharp uptake in vaccinations could be due to an outbreak of seasonal viruses, both flu and otherwise, according to Coleford Health Centre practice manager Bridget Docking.

She said: "We have a small number of vaccines left which are being kept for at-risk patients. It doesn't seem likely that we will get any more but the Primary Care Trust is trying."

The Mitcheldean Surgery have also run out of the vaccine.

Practice manager Gayle Sykes said: "We had a good response to our clinics in October but with the media interest we have been much busier since Christmas."

Most surgeries reported that they had plenty of the single swine flu vaccine left in stock.