Late last month, Virginia health officials received about 78,000 doses of flu vaccine as part of the reallocation process. That vaccine is being given to high-risk people at public-health clinics around the state and through other means. Richmond, along with Henrico and Chesterfield counties, all have vaccine clinics scheduled in the days to come.

The 82,000 flu-vaccine doses Virginia will receive are part of 3.1 million doses going to states to make sure they receive 100 percent of what was ordered by public-health agencies, CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding announced yesterday.

The U.S. shortage came about early last month, when all the flu vaccine made in the Liverpool, England, manufacturing plant of Chiron Corp. was declared unusable because of possible contamination. Chiron was to supply about half of the United States' 100 million flu-vaccine doses this year, and some states, including Virginia, had ordered most of their vaccine from Chiron.