"Priority list" gets first dibs at public H1N1 vaccine clinic

The Municipality of Anchorage administered its first round of the H1N1 vaccine to the public and hundreds lined up to get their shot or spray.

The Department of Health and Human Services had 2,000 doses and a little more than 800 people showed up to the UAA Student Union for the seasonal flu and the H1N1 vaccine. But those who were in a "high risk priority group" were the only ones to get the H1N1 vaccine.

What was supposed to be a 20 minute wait for the Municipality's first public round of the H1N1 vaccine, turned into an hour and a half wait for one family. "It's not bad, I mean it's been moving so quick and so it's really not bad at all," said someone who waited for the H1N1 vaccine, Melissa Buhlert.

Melissa said she usually does not get the regular flu shot, but the wait was worth every minute. "It was mostly for him, to get my son vaccinated and I am here to do it as well. So I decided to get it done," said Buhlerts.

But city health officials say there is not enough of the vaccine to go around. "The vaccine is kind of a moving target so we have to kind of on a day by day basis assess things. So we had hoped to do more public pods soon but it looks like we may have to delay those a little," said the Director of The MUNI Department of Health and Human Services, Diane Ingle.

The clinic on Nov. 21st focused on high risk priority groups, including children and young adults 6 months to 24 years old, pregnant women, care givers for babies less than 6 months, people with underlying health conditions and those who work in the health care industry.

"It's good for us to be able to offer a public for priority groups because it's a very efficient way of delivering vaccine. When everything is working well, we can give 500 shots an hour," said Ingle.

About a hundred volunteers, nurses and doctors guided those from the time they walked through the door, by helping them fill out paperwork and getting screened for the shot or spray. "It is pretty quick and easy," said Ingle.

City health officials say they do not have another public clinic scheduled right now. The city says the amount of H1N1 vaccines coming in fluctuates daily and it has to see if there is enough for another free public clinic to meet demand. So far, the Anchorage School District has given out more than 10 thousand shots and will deploy its second round, November 30th.

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