Hundreds line up as H1N1 clinics start to open

H1N1 SPECIAL SECTION
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ADAMS COUNTY - The first of what will turn out to be dozens of H1N1 clinics in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas Counties got underway in earnest on Thursday.

The clinics will be open to all residents, but will be initially limited to people who are considered to be "high-risk" for the H1N1 flu. That means: pregnant women, parents and caretakers of children less than 6 months old, children and adults between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, and adults less than 64 years old with chronic health conditions.

Cathy Azcarate drove to Bennett from Lone Tree in order to ensure that her two children would get immunized.

"We're concerned of course," she said. "There are definitely consequences if they get H1N1."

The line outside Bennett Middle School was long on Thursday, but it wasn't unusually long. Some people waited an hour or less to receive either the flu-mist or the flu shot. Outside Thornton Middle School, SKY9 captured a much longer line.

"Yes, we're going to be busy over the next few weeks," Jeanne North, the director of nursing for the Tri-County Health Department said.

The vaccine shortage is still being felt.

"It's been really difficult to deal with," North said. "We should be getting more vaccine over the next couple of weeks."

Despite the clinics in the Tri-County region, many doctors' offices in the same region have yet to receive a single dose of the H1N1 vaccine.

9NEWS contacted a number of OB/GYN's in Adams and Arapahoe Counties. We called close to a dozen offices and couldn't find one that had received the vaccine for their patients. Pregnant women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are among the most vulnerable to the virus.

A spokesperson for Tri-County Health explained that one reason for the uneven distribution may be the layout of the region itself. Adams and Arapahoe counties have a lot of hospitals. The CDC is trying to distribute according to population, but it apparently didn't take into account the number of health care workers in an area.

Health care workers represented the first group to get vaccinated.

Some counties, like Denver County in particular, have postponed a number of clinics because of the shortage.

For a complete list of upcoming clinics, go to www.immunizecolorado.com.