RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina may get nearly 50,000 more doses of flu vaccine soon as state health officials try to reach residents of long-term care centers and others who have had difficulty getting shots.

Some of the vaccine is coming from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, which announced Thursday it was donating 25,000 doses to the state, with an additional 5,000 given to the N.C. Association of Free Clinics.

State health officials said they are expecting 24,470 more doses from the manufacturer, Aventis-Pasteur, to be delivered within two to three weeks.

With the new delivery, the state will have received and shipped about 255,000 doses of influenza vaccine, which it had originally ordered to provide shots in its childhood vaccine program, said state vaccine manager Barbara Laymon.

It had sought 330,000 shots for this fall, hoping to immunize more children than ever.

Earlier this month, vaccines made by one of two suppliers were pulled from the market for contamination problems, creating an overnight shortage.