By MIKE SECCOMBE

Martha’s Vineyard health officials had to end today’s planned four-hour all-Island seasonal flu clinic flu clinic after just two hours, when supplies of vaccine ran out.

Just before 10 a.m., they began turning away cars at the two staging points, at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury and Waban Park in Oak Bluffs, as well as walk-in patients at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Those who missed out now will have to wait for more vaccine to arrive on the Island. As yet, officials have no indication when that might be.

Shortfalls in the supply of both the vaccine for the seasonal flu, and for the H1N1 swine flu variant, have been a national problem this flu season. Island health officials had requested 2,200 doses of seasonal flu vaccine for today’s all-Island clinic, but received only 1,200.

Ahead of the clinic, they announced these would be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ron MacLaren, the spokesman for the Martha’s Vineyard Public Health Coalition, a group comprising the various town health agents and representatives of the hospital, Vineyard Nursing Association, emergency management and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), said people began arriving at the staging points before 6 a.m.

“People were lining up an hour before the staging area even opened,” he said.

“That isn’t new; we’ve always had people showing up early in the past. But I do think people made a concerted effort to be earlier this year, knowing supplies were short.”

This meant long waits — two hours or more, for the early birds, because the clinic itself, at the regional high school, did not begin until 8 a.m.

“But at least they definitely would have got the vaccine,” Mr. MacLaren said.

“We gave out 1,199 doses today in just under two hours, and began turning away people at the staging areas, as well as walk-ins at the high school, from about 10 o’clock.

“We will wait for the rest of our seasonal vaccine to come in, and when that arrives we’ll be putting out further notices about how we will be able to give that out.”

There could be another large clinic, or people might wind up being vaccinated by appointment with their town nurses, depending on the flow of further vaccine supplies.

“We have 1,000 doses on order and we’re just waiting,” Mr. MacLaren said.

Nor do local officials have any idea when more swine flu vaccine will arrive, leaving efforts to immunize all the Island’s school-age children on hold.

The first three school clinics, at West Tisbury, Chilmark and the Charter School, were held last Monday.

“But we’re still waiting for a new shipment so we can do the other schools,” he said.

“As with the other schools, we’ll notify the superintendent and then give the school roughly a week to prepare.

“Hopefully we will get substantially more so we can do general public immunizations as well,” Mr. McLaren said.