First Brown Co. H1N1 vaccination clinic

ASHWAUBENON - The H1N1 vaccination clinic in our area Thursday was the first in Brown County, and most likely the largest the area has seen, but it wasn't for everyone. Only people considered to be at high risk for the H1N1 strain are able to be immunized.

The clinic was set for three o'clock in the afternoon, but many got there well in advance of the doors opening.

"We got here probably 1:30, there was probably a good 20-some people here before I got here, so they lined up pretty early," said Joanne Silas of Green Bay.

Many didn't want to chance missing a dose of the H1N1 vaccine.

"It is like gold, really, when you think about it," said Judy Friederichs, director of the Brown County Health Department.

And, like gold, it's not available to just anyone who wants it.

"I have other health problems so it was pretty important for me to get this to prevent infections and viruses and stuff like that," said Kelli Haydon of Pulaski. "I already got my regular flu shot but then I came for the H1N1 since I can't find it anywhere. I've spent like two weeks calling around and nobody has it so when I heard that they had it here I got here at like one o'clock to line up."

"I have two children who have muscular dystrophy so we needed the shot," said Silas.

The Brown County Health Department organized the clinic at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena to distribute up to 3,000 doses. Based on Centers for Disease Control guidelines, vaccines at the clinic are only for certain groups of people, including pregnant women and children with chronic medical conditions.

"We hope that within a few weeks we'll be able to get to a point where we gradually expand to the larger population. But of course this is all dependent on the availability of vaccines," said Friederichs.

Planning the clinic is no small effort, and organizers have it down to a science. There is a specific area where people need to enter, where people need to register, and then another place where people go in private to get vaccinated.

"It's very important to me. I'm a single mom. They are everything to me, so I have to make sure they're protected," said Silas.

The state health department announced in one week it will expand the list of people eligible for the H1N1 vaccine to include adults 19 to 64 years old, with an underlying medical condition.

Click here to find an H1N1 vaccination clinic near you.