Yellowknife (Dec 24/03) - Anyone planning to get a flu shot over the Christmas holidays may have to put that on hold until the new year.

Dr. Andre Corriveau, the NWT's chief medical officer, said that since a nasty flu bug began invading the North a couple of months ago, it was no surprise that the vaccine depleted so quickly.

"We heard that many of our health centres ran out a few weeks ago," he said. "Because the flu season came early this year, the public demand has been quite large."

So large, in fact, that another order of the vaccine has been requested.

Corriveau said that already this year over 15,000 vaccines have been issued compared to last year when approximately 10,000 shots were given.