H1N1 clinic gives 1,395 vaccinations

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buy this photo LARRY MAYER/Gazette Staff
A line started forming at 6 a.m. for Monday's free H1N1 flu shots at the Shrine Auditorium in Billings. The clinic starts at 1 p.m. November 9, 2009.

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UPDATED 7 p.m.: Nurses vaccinated 1,395 people at the six-hour clinic. No further walk-in H1N1 clinics are planned for the week.


UPDATED 3:10 p.m. : By 3 p.m., 500 vaccinations had been given, and there was still no wait to be vaccinated. The clinic is scheduled to last until 7 p.m. or until vaccine runs out. As of 3 p.m., 1,100 doses remained available.


UPDATED 2:30 p.m. : At 2 p.m., there was no line and no wait at the H1N1 vaccine clinic. Some 350 doses of vaccine were given in the clinic's first hour.


UPDATED 1:05 p.m. : At 1 p.m., there was no line outside of the Shrine Auditorium. People were waiting in line inside to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine.


MORNING REPORT: A fourth walk-in H1N1 vaccination clinic is set for today from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Shrine Auditorium, 1125 Broadwater Ave.

The Unified Health Command - made up of RiverStone Health, Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare - has 1,600 doses of the H1N1 vaccine to distribute on a first-come, first-served basis.

RiverStone Health said the vaccine will only be given to people meeting certain criteria laid out by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. People eligible to receive doses are pregnant women; people who live with or provide care for infants who are younger than 6 months old; health care and emergency medical staff; kids and young adults between the ages of 6 months and 24 years; and people between the ages of 25 and 64 with chronic medical issues that could increase their risk for flu-related complications.

The priority list was established because of a nationwide shortage of the vaccine.

In a press release, RiverStone advised that people going to today's clinic dress in loose clothing to make it easier to access a place for an injection, be ready to let medical staff members know what kind of vaccines they have received in the past month and, if the person bringing a child for a vaccination is not the legal guardian, have a signed consent form from the child's legal guardian.

Yellowstone County has received a total of 11,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine. At the previous three vaccination clinics in the Billings area, the line of people waiting often stretched hundreds of people deep, and all of the doses on hand were given out in matter of hours.

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