Posted: Nov. 3, 2009

Will Piper slipped his 18-month-old twin daughters, Hope and Grace, into their stroller, pushed them across the parking lot at Brown Deer Village Hall and took his place in the line for H1N1 flu vaccine.

The girls, he explained, had been born prematurely at 27 weeks.

"It's very important we get this for them," he said. Anxious parents with small children made up the largest share of those at an H1N1 clinic last week.

The clinic, sponsored by the North Shore Health Department, started the morning with only 60 doses of injectable vaccine. The line ahead of Piper and his daughters looked like it had 100 people in it. Children under 2, pregnant mothers, and those with medical conditions that do not allow the use of a nasal mist receive the shots.

"People who were most nervous about getting the injectable got here very early," said Director Jane Peterson. In addition to the shot form of the vaccine, the department had 1,200 doses of nasal mist.

Scott and Mindy Grenier brought their two children to the clinic after calling their pediatrician's office repeatedly.

"They kept referring us to the 211 (help) line," Mindy said. Their son, who has a respiratory condition, needed to have the shot, while their daughter had the nasal mist.

In addition to the young children, there were a number of pregnant mothers who came early to make sure they received the shots.

Julie Melbinger-Wagner, a dentist and pregnant mother, did not bring her 22-month-old daughter to the clinic. She learned about the clinic from a colleague and called to get information about it. She got the shot.

"When I called Monday, someone told me that they would not have it for children under two," she told Peterson. That was not the case, but with only 60 doses of the injectable vaccine, there was little hope there would by any left by the time she went to get her daughter and returned.

The first group of people to receive the vaccine, health care workers and emergency medical personnel, received it two weeks ago.

People in the line said they learned about the clinic on the Web site. Peterson said the department is giving that information out to many people who called wanting to know when there would be clinics.

Several hundred doses of nasal mist left after the clinic last week were administered at a clinic Wednesday. Under the most recent guidelines from the state, only healthy children ages 2 to 5 years old, and the family and caregivers of children 6 months and younger could receive the remaining doses of the mist.

Area health departments are biding their time as they await shipments of additional H1N1 flu vaccine.

Ozaukee County is out. The Shorewood-Whitefish Bay Health Department plans a clinic Friday that will likely exhaust its supply of nasal mist. The North Shore expected to exhaust its supply Wednesday, but the state is receiving and distributing small shipments of vaccine on almost a daily basis.

"We had a by-appointment clinic for pregnant mothers," Cindy Tomasello, director of the Shorewood-Whitefish Bay Department said. That exhausted the injectable supply of vaccine. The clinic Friday is for healthy children ages 2 to 4, parents and caregivers of infants 6 months and younger and healthcare workers in direct patient care.

All of the health departments have canceled previous plans for school-based clinics until more vaccine arrives.

Glenda Madlom, director of public health in Ozaukee County, sympathized with the frustration experienced by people who are trying to get inoculated.

"It has been challenging for everyone, including the public," she said. "The state told us the second phase of vaccines was to target the school population."

However, delays in the delivery of the vaccine have led to the cancellation of clinics.

"School-based clinics will be held when the vaccine is available," Madlom said. "We will work on this as hard as we can when the vaccine comes in."

In the meantime, the nurses urge everyone to follow simple basic precautions, wash your hands, cover your cough and stay home when sick.

Web Sites

Information on H1N1 clinics will be available on the following Web sites as the vaccine becomes available.

browndeerwi.org - click on the department link

villageofshorewood.org - click on the department link

co.ozaukee.wi.us - click on the link to swine flu

FYI

WHAT: A clinic for H1N1 flu vaccine, nasal vaccine only

WHEN: 8 a.m. to noon Friday

WHERE: Shorewood Village Center, 3920 N. Murray Avenue, (lower level of the Shorewood Library.)

WHO: Following CDC guidelines, this clinic is for the following target populations:

• healthy 2- to 4-year-olds

• healthy people who are household contacts or caregivers for infants 6 months and younger

• healthy healthcare workers 49 and younger who have direct contact with patients