Health officials say they are already prepared to start giving out this year's flu shot, earlier than ever before.

After last year's swine flu outbreak and flu shot shortage, health officials say they're not taking any chances.

Last year's swine flu pandemic swept through well before there was enough vaccine available. This not only led to shortages, but to long lines. This year, shipments of flu shots have been arriving early, not only so stores can offer them amid back to school sales, but also because officials with the Center for Disease Control say the flu doesn't seen to be limited to a season anymore.

Brooke Hudspeth, a pharmacist at Kroger says, "It is getting a little harder to predict the flu season and when it is going to come about. If you remember the H1N1 pandemic last year, it wasn't really a predicted time that it showed up."

Hudspeth says her store on Alexandria Drive in Lexington already has the vaccine ready to go. She also says more shipments are arriving daily. Health officials say there will be a record supply of vaccine this year and unlike last year, folks won't have to get two shots -- one for H1N1 and another for the regular flu.

She says, "It actually does contain something that does fight the H1N1 strain."

Officials predict strains that will be most prevalent each year and that's how they come up with the flu shot.

Hudspeth says everyone should consider getting the shot. She says at Kroger, children 14 and under will have to get a prescription before a pharmacist will give them a shot.

According to the CDC, there is a special, high-dose version of the shot this year for the elderly. Officials there say they'll track whether the higher dose leads to less illness.