The national H1N1 flu vaccine shortage is hitting the University of California, where campuses and medical centers have scant supplies.

UC can’t purchase flu vaccine doses itself. The university and other health care providers in the state rely on local public health departments to supply them.

“The H1N1 vaccine is trickling in at best at the medical centers and it’s almost nonexistent at campuses,” said Grace Crickette, UC chief risk officer. “Our expectation is that the public health departments will give us some, but it’s going to be limited and sporadic.”

Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente — which has about 6.6 million members in California, including almost 32,000 UC employees — does have larger amounts of H1N1 vaccine, which it is giving to high-risk groups first. Kaiser has a larger supply of H1N1 vaccine because it entered a 1998 partnership with the state Department of Public Health and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to augment flu surveillance efforts. As part of Kaiser’s participation in the California Influenza Surveillance Project, that allows it greater access to flu vaccine.

Vaccine priority groups include pregnant women, children 6 months to 18 years old, young adults 19 to 24 years old, caregivers of children younger than 6 months, adults 25-64 years old with chronic health conditions and health care and emergency workers.

While UC would like to inoculate all UC employees who fit those priority groups, employees should get vaccinated outside of UC if they can, Crickette said. UC employees with Kaiser health insurance should get vaccinated there, and employees with other insurers should check with their physicians or public health departments, she said. Similarly, UC would like to offer H1N1 flu clinics for students, but due to the vaccine shortage, students should take advantage of any other opportunity to get vaccinated.

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