A higher demand has created shipping issues for the company that manufactures chicken pox vaccine, of which two doses are now required for Kansas kindergarten and first-grade students.

“It is coming. People don’t need to panic or worry,” said DeeAnne Schoenfeld, immunization charge nurse at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

Schoenfeld said for now the health department has enough supply of the varicella vaccine to last at least through next week with more on order.

If sometime during the next month the supply dwindles and families are asked to wait to get their children vaccinated, health officials may meet with Lawrence school district leaders to talk about the supply issue, she said.

Typically, August and September provide a back-to-school rush for vaccinations at the health department and pediatric clinics. Schools also generally give leeway to students on some immunization requirements for the first few weeks of school, Schoenfeld said. The Lawrence district works with the health department on immunization requirements.

Mike Heideman, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the state agency does not directly supply local health departments. The agency has noticed it is taking three to four weeks to receive chicken pox vaccine shipments compared with the normal two weeks, he said.

Merck & Co., which manufactures the vaccine, has already shipped 8 million doses this year, which is more than all of 2006, and company representatives have said it is a difficult time getting the vaccine shipped out because of the demand, Schoenfeld said.

After Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a new law, students at Kansas schools this year must fulfill the immunization requirement. A federal group of doctors recommended in 2006 that the chicken pox vaccine be given after a child turns 1 and again between ages 4 and 6.

“They think that will decrease even more the number of kids getting chicken pox,” Schoenfeld said.