Demand has been so high for free seasonal flu shots that Barnes-Jewish Hospital is running out of the vaccine faster than expected.

The canceled dates and sites include:

• Saturday, Emerson Family YMCA, 3390 Pershall Road.

• Wednesday, Edward Jones Family YMCA, 12521 Marine Avenue, Maryland Heights.

• Saturday, Monsanto YMCA, 555 Page Boulevard.

The hospital received 35,000 doses. From Monday through Wednesday, Barnes and St. Louis Children’s Hospital gave 19,656 adult shots and 484 doses to children ages 3 and under.

The totals are 30 percent higher than what the hospital distributed in the past four years that it has been giving free flu shots to the public.

“A national seasonal flu vaccine shortage has led more people here than we’ve seen in the past,” says Jim Gray, Barnes-Jewish pharmacy director, in a press release. “The seasonal flu vaccine supply is down 30 to 50 percent from previous years, and there just aren’t as many places to get a shot this year.”

In addition, the fear of H1N1 flu has raised awareness of flu shots and unemployment has increased the number of people needing free services.

The hospital isn’t expecting more vaccine for now. Jason Merrill, a Barnes spokesman, said shortages and the increase in demand have taken a toll around the community.

“Some places are getting 50 to 75 percent of their (requested amount),” Merrill said. “We have offices that call and say they usually get shots in their offices and they’ll send 80 employees over.”

ST. PETERS: Illness closes school for disabled

The Boonslick State School for the Severely Disabled in St. Peters has shut down because of an outbreak of flu-like illness.

Jim Morris, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the school suspended classes on Monday when more than half of its 24 students called in sick with flu-like symptoms. School officials hope to reopen the facility Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Morris said, a similar state-run school in the Bootheel shut down today for the same reason. That school, the Bootheel State School in Clarkton, also reported a more than 50 percent absence rate due to a flu-like illness.

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Harry Jackson Jr. and Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.