By Jamie B. Nash
November 15, 2009
An hour and 15 minutes after the UTMB Montgomery County Health Department began administering the H1N1 vaccine at Conroe High School on Saturday, all 1,000 doses were gone.
The event was scheduled to begin at 9
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a.m., but started at 8:30 instead because hundreds of people were already in line, according to Emily Llinas, Montgomery County Public Health Preparedness director.
Rebecca Bartlett was first in line, arriving around 12:45 a.m. to make sure the third time was a charm in trying to get her daughters vaccinated. The family was in line for the shots at Lone Star College, but the vaccinations were gone before they made it to the front. They tried again on Nov. 7, but that vaccination event was postponed.
Finally, Bartlett’s tenacity paid off.
“I’m glad we got it done,” she said. “It’s a good experience.”
Llinas said by 9 a.m. only about 150 tickets remained undistributed out of 1,000. She was pleased at how quickly the line moved, which she said was faster than the previous clinic partly because only the injectable form of the H1N1 vaccine was distributed.
Llinas said the vaccine was becoming more accessible and there should now be at least 1,000 doses available at every clinic. Montgomery County received 3,600 doses last week and officials expect to receive similar amounts over the next several weeks.
“We’re soon going to see huge numbers of vaccine everywhere,” Llinas said. “We’re cautiously optimistic that we’re coming to the end of the H1N1 wave.”
The traditional “flu season” officially started Oct. 1, but usually picks up in January and February, she said.
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