All four flu vaccination clinics held throughout the county Saturday had hundreds of people from all over waiting for hours for their H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. All four ran out of H1N1 injections before the day was through.

Between 300 and 500 people were already lined up at each clinic before the doors opened at 10 a.m., said Ken Pearce, Lorain County General Health District Commissioner. People began lining up at the high school in Amherst at 8 a.m., he said.

“We knew early it was going to be a tight day,” Pearce said, adding that there were only about 300 H1N1 shots available per clinic. “Most people try to go early so you’ll have a larger crowd then. It thins out later in the day.”

North Ridgeville Mayor David Gillock wanted a seasonal flu shot but his doctor’s office was out. Early Saturday morning, he headed for the clinic at the North Ridgeville Education Center.

“They were lined up from the front of the entrance to the education center … to Center Ridge Road,” Gillock said. “I left and came back around 1:30 and I got out right around 3 p.m. By then, they’d run out of H1N1 shots. … I heard one lady say she got in line at 9:30 a.m. and she didn’t leave until 2:15.”

Pearce said the four clinics received the same amount of vaccines. On Saturday, 1,262 H1N1 shots were given, 901 nasal spray vaccines were given and 1,603 seasonal flu shots were given.

Pearce said a total of 4,066 H1N1 and seasonal flu shots were given at four clinics held Thursday, which were open three hours longer than the clinics Saturday. Waiting for two, three or even more hours in line was common at all clinics, Pearce said, adding that health officials are trying to find ways to speed things up.

Tier 1 candidates, which include pregnant women, adults caring for children younger than 6 months old, those up to 24 years old and adults younger than 49 with a chronic illness like diabetes or asthma, are still getting first dibs at the clinics.

Pearce said some people were turned away at each clinic because they didn’t fall into this “first wave” of vaccine candidates with higher health risks.

“We’ve ordered 58,000 doses, and eventually they’ll come in, but they’re coming in 2,000 at a time,” Pearce said. “They’re giving only so much a week of H1N1. If we had 10,000 doses, we’d work 24-hour days in shifts to get it done. Every health department is limited by the number of vaccine and the number of people who want it.”

Lots of people want it, which is making for some long lines. Pearce said people from Cuyahoga, Trumball, Erie and Huron counties are coming to Lorain County clinics.

He also said he’s seen people from Cincinnati, Columbus and as far away as Michigan.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is we’ve signed an agreement with the Centers for Disease Control, and we can’t turn anyone away based on residency,” Pearce said. “If someone comes in from elsewhere, it doesn’t matter - they’re provided (a vaccine).”

Further lengthening the wait time is one of the largest at-risk groups - children.

“When dealing with children, they’re a little more apprehensive, crying, fighting the shot and it can take as much as five minutes to give a child a shot, and that holds things up, even with the tremendous number of nurses and volunteers,” Pearce said.

Because all children younger than 9 will need a second dose after 30 days, this is a difficulty that isn’t going away any time soon.

Gillock had heard about the three-hour wait at Elyria’s clinic last week but said he was still surprised by the lines.

“It was huge,” he said of the crowd in North Ridgeville. “Someone said they’d gone to Avon High School first, but the lines were just as bad there. It was just a tremendous response. It was just packed. It was unbelievable, it really was.”

Some people have been preregistering online hoping that will guarantee them a vaccine or send them to the front of the lines, Pearce said, adding that isn’t so.

The county has provided a link to a preregistration Web site, but it’s the Ohio Department of Health’s Web site and was put up in an effort by the CDC to track at least 40 million people getting the vaccine, Pearce said.

“When you preregister, it’s not going to bring you to the front of the line,” Pearce said. “You’ll walk in with your forms so it will save you time, but it’s not a guarantee that the vaccine is there for you or that you’ll go to the front of the line.”

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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