Thousands line up early for swine flu vaccine

The county's first walk-in clinic for the swine flu vaccine opened at 11:30 a.m. yesterday, but the first takers began lining up at 8:30 a.m.

By noon, a long line wrapped around the student center and library at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, where the clinic was held, and it stretched all the way to the college's physical plant.

"I expected a line, but I did not expect this line at all," said Kevin Fitzpatrick of Annapolis, who said he came to get a vaccine for his 5-year-old daughter but nearly went home when he saw the crowd.

"It's like we're in a Russian bread line," said Scott Hodgkins of Severna Park, waiting at about 12:30 p.m.

But after the first crush of people ebbed, traffic slowed to a trickle, and by the end of the day, only 2,660 of 4,000 available H1N1 doses were administered.

Since the end of August, 616 people in Maryland have been hospitalized with swine flu and 23 have died from it, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Because authorities still are limiting distribution to those most vulnerable to the virus, yesterday's clinic served mostly pregnant women, children, health care workers and people with weakened immune systems.

The remaining 1,340 doses that weren't used will be added to those offered at nine more clinics set up at county high schools between Dec. 1 and 3, said Elin Jones, a spokeswoman for the county Health Department.

But the people who lined up early yesterday didn't know there would be leftovers. Fearing there might not be enough vaccine to go around, some waited for hours and others faulted authorities for the nationwide vaccine shortage.

"This is ridiculous. People in Europe have already had the shot," said Dan Mastromarco of Arnold, who said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have approved the vaccine earlier.

"They knew this was coming. There's really no excuse for it," he said.

Others said the wait was worth it. Ginger Metzger's 60-year-old sister suffered some cuts and bruises after falling over a curb while waiting in line, but said she wouldn't take the advice of paramedics and go to the hospital until she was vaccinated.

"We're staying," Metzger said. The sisters were fast-tracked to the front of the line.

Once the clinic opened, the line moved fast. Most people waited about 20 to 30 minutes, health officials said.

Inside, in a room littered with bottles of hand sanitizer, 16 nurses at six family stations and two adult stations administered the vaccine either by injection or nasal spray.

Afterward, officials said the operation went smoothly, even if they didn't vaccinate as many people as they had hoped.

"We'd like to hit 4,000," said Douglas Hart, acting health officer for the Health Department. "We want to give as many vaccines as possible."

Nine more H1N1 vaccine clinics will be held at county high schools for people in priority groups: pregnant women, people between 6 months and 24 years old, people who live with or care for children under 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel and people ages 25 to 64 who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems The clinics will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at Chesapeake, South River and Broadneck high schools; Dec. 2 at Northeast, Old Mill and Annapolis; and Dec. 3 at Arundel, North County and Southern.