AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci announced a series of steps Friday to stretch Maine’s flu vaccine supplies to ensure those who need shots the most – including the very young, old and chronically ill – get them.

The governor appealed to private businesses that have vaccination clinics to hold onto their supplies so their vaccines can be redistributed to the most vulnerable people.

“We have a long tradition in Maine of pulling together – neighbor helping neighbor,” said Baldacci, who held a State House news conference with Health Director Dora Anne Mills. “We are now asking that Maine businesses assist us in helping Maine people who may be most vulnerable for flu.”

Supplies are short because British regulators suspended vaccine production by a major flu-shot supplier for the United States, Chiron Corp.

To set an example, Baldacci ordered a delay in vaccinations for state workers, except for those in high-risk categories.

Mills, meanwhile, advised health care providers and businesses to give vaccinations only to those at high risk of flu-related complications while the state conducts an inventory of vaccine supplies.

Officials also asked Mainers to take steps to prevent the spread of flu germs by covering their faces when they sneeze and cough.

Baldacci asked businesses that conduct flu clinics to call the Maine Flu Vaccine Hotline at (888) 257-0990 to report how much vaccine they have available. The state could then purchase the vaccines so they could be redistributed to those in high-risk groups.

Baldacci said that while flu season doesn’t start until early December, the state takes the news of the vaccine shortage seriously and wants to map out a plan while awaiting further word from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on when new supplies will become available.

Mills, noting there are no identified flu outbreaks in the country now, called the state’s steps “precautionary.”

The health director also advised people in high-risk groups to go ahead and schedule vaccinations with their health care providers.

Long lines and vaccine shortages have been reported at some clinics in the state. Other health care providers were delaying clinics to provide more time for the new flu shot guidelines to reach the public.

In Brunswick, all supplies were exhausted within 45 minutes of the start of Thursday’s drive-through clinic at Parkview Adventist Medical Center, but few people had to be turned away because of the new guidelines.

“We didn’t have to turn away a ton of people,” Parkview’s Amy Bickford said. “They said, ‘You know what, that 80-year-old man needs it more than me.’ People were generally courteous knowing that there are others at a higher risk of complications.”

The clinic was one of the first, so the crowd was big. The cars started lining up four hours before the clinic was to begin at 4 p.m. Thursday.

“Everyone was really scared. And us being one of the first hospitals to do a clinic, we were especially swamped,” Bickford said.

On the Net: State Health Department: www.mainepublichealth.gov