SAN ANTONIO -- Until manufacturers of the H1N1 vaccine catch up with their earlier predictions, school districts cannot move ahead with their plans to protect their students against the swine flu.

"We thought by October we would be in the process of doing the inoculations," said Deb Caldwell, a Northeast Independent School District spokeswoman. "Metro Health indicated that it would be mid-March."

Although North East and other school districts have been developing vaccination plans, it's become a logistical nightmare.

"It depends on what kind of vaccination we receive, and how much we receive, before we know which students will receive it," Caldwell said.

"We really can't tell parents, 'This is the week your kids are going to get the vaccinations' because we honestly do not know," said Pascual Gonzalez, Northside Independent School District spokesman.

The uncertainty just adds to the worry felt by anxious parents.

"Yes, it does, because the kids are still getting sick," said Joyce Noriega, a mother of three.

"That worries me because my grandson is asthmatic, so that is a big worry for me," said Toni Chin as she picked up her grandchildren at Leon Valley Elementary School.

Although school districts like Northeast have identified the medically-fragile students who will be given priority, they cannot be given the flu mist, only the vaccination.

"We're just as frustrated as parents are. We're just as frustrated as Metro Health," Gonzalez said. "As soon as we have it in our hands, we'll roll it out as fast as we can."

Erica Stevenson, a spokesperson for Metro Health, said the distribution strategy for the vaccine by Texas Department of Health Services now gives priority to pregnant women and children. She said it is likely ob-gyn's and pediatricians may have the vaccine.

Noriega said her family physician didn't have the vaccine.

"They put us on a waiting list," she said.

North East and North Side ISDs report absenteeism is at or below average, compared to a surge about a month ago.