Flu shot seekers turned away

Thousands turned out today for Douglas County's first public clinic for H1N1 flu vaccinations.

The line ran out of the First United Methodist Church to the east, then down 69th Street before hooking west along Cass Street toward 72nd Street.

Police estimated that 4,000 people had gathered by 9:20 a.m.

Douglas County's H1N1 flu clinic began turning away people seeking the shot about 6:25 p.m. Health officials estimated that the number of people in line at the time were enough to fill the clinic until it is expected to close, at 8 p.m.

Phil Rooney of the Douglas County Health Department said the turnout was no surprise.

“There hasn't been a clinic this size done in the county or in the surrounding counties recently, so we were prepared for a very large crowd, and that's what we've got,” he said.

He said 252 people were vaccinated in the clinic's first hour. “The pace the first hour was slower than we wanted, so we're trying to pick that up,” he added. About 750 were vaccinated in the second hour.
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Rooney said the county had about 5,000 doses of the vaccine on hand.
If the clinic ran out of vaccine, he said, “We do have some extra we can pull in . . . We should have something for everybody today.”

The only complaint June Haber had was the cold of the concrete sidewalk beneath her feet. She was in line with her husband, Dennis, and two of their grandchildren, Madison, 15, and Alex Shomaker, 11. They brought folding chairs, a portable video game and an iTouch.
Madison said the wait wasn't a problem “with the technology passing the time.”

As the H1N1 vaccine has become available locally, people have flocked to get the shots. In Oakland, Iowa, last month, people began lining up six hours early, with more than 600 eventually getting vaccinated. A clinic in Papillion in October drew several hundred.

“We got here about 20-to-4 (a.m.),” said Laura Hansen, who was near the head of the line at 8 a.m. She came from Valley to get the shot because she suffers from asthma. “I wanted to get it and get it done,” Hansen said.

Some in line questioned why the shots couldn't be made available through personal physicians.

Melissa Pruch was in line with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Lydia. “Now we're standing out here in the cold, so is she going to get sick from that?”

Doses generally have been reserved for people in groups at risk of complications, or for certain caretakers. The targeted groups include pregnant women, health care providers, children and adolescents, people 25 through 64 with chronic medical problems, and those who care for infants.

Thursday's clinic was conducted on the honor system, Rooney said.
“We trust this community,” he said.

Dr. Joann Schaefer, chief medical officer in Nebraska, said the doses available in Nebraska have increased over the past 14 days from 61,900 to 130,400. “I think it's improving,” Schaefer said.

Dr. Anne O'Keefe, the Douglas County Health Department's senior epidemiologist, said the county is at least one or two weeks from opening clinics to people who aren't in the targeted groups.
The federal government expects H1N1 doses to arrive in large quantities soon, O'Keefe said.

For now, officials recommend contacting family physicians to find out their plans for distribution of vaccine; using the county's H1N1 telephone hot line, 444-3400, to learn about upcoming clinics; accessing the county's web site, www.douglascountyhealth.com (click on “Public H1N1 Flu Vaccinations” ), or checking the state's web site, www.dhhs.ne.gov, where information from around the state is available through a vaccination clinic locator.