Hawai'i does not have enough supplies of H1N1 flu vaccine for the more than 350,000 people who should be vaccinated, but Health Department officials yesterday insisted the supply eventually will catch up with demand.

As of yesterday, Hawai'i had been allocated 302,900 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine.

But there are roughly 357,000 people who should get H1N1 vaccinations in Hawai'i because they are health care workers, pregnant women or in critical jobs, said state Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino.

And there are likely "hundreds of thousands" of more people who should be vaccinated because the estimates are unable to account for others, including people 25 to 64 years old with underlying health conditions and all people ages 18 to 24, Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said.

Hawai'i will get its next allocation of H1N1 vaccine next week and eventually will get enough to meet demand, Fukino said.

"Supply will meet demand," she said.

Health Department officials do not yet know how much vaccine they will receive next week, Okubo said.

Fukino urged healthy people in so-called "priority groups" to choose the flu mist vaccine instead of injections to ensure injections will be available to those who can't take flu mist.

Of those people who should be vaccinated, according to the Health Department, Hawai'i has at least 22,443 health care workers; about 24,000 pregnant women; 296,000 children and young adults 0-17 years old; 940 Emergency Medical Services personnel; and more than 14,000 state and city workers in "critical infrastructure/key resource positions."

But the real numbers are higher, Fukino said, because the estimates do not account for many of those on the Neighbor Islands, nor do they include 25- to 64-year-olds with underlying health conditions, or all people 18 to 24 years old.

Fukino yesterday also repeated her previous call to physicians and pharmacies not to stockpile vaccine.

"We need to vaccinate as many people in priority groups as we can to stem the tide with what we have now," Fukino said. "Do not hold on to vaccine."

The Health Department has set up a public hotline — 211 — to handle calls about H1N1 and a Web site, http://flu.hawaii.gov.