Utah County out of H1N1 vaccine

PROVO — Many people stood in line for up five hours on Tuesday to get the H1N1 vaccine in Utah County.

Utah County Health Department spokesman Lance Madigan said the department started turning people away from the end of the line at 11:30 a.m., but the wait in the line was still about two hours long at 2:15 p.m.

"We thought we would get through at least today, but we did a few things to streamline the process, like add an extra station, and we ripped through the vaccine," Madigan said.

The department went through about 4,000 vaccines — half nasal spray and half injections, he said. The turnout Tuesday might have been due to Salt Lake Valley's clinic running out of vaccine so quickly during the weekend.

Madigan said he heard of one person getting in line at the Utah County Health and Justice Building as early as 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. The building doesn't open until 6 a.m.

"While we applaud their efforts, it's not that beneficial to stand out in the wind and cold to get the vaccine," he said. "We definitely have a very contagious disease with which most people don't have immunity to. However, it is only the flu. We want to take precautions, and we want to take those steps necessary, but we don't need to panic or go overboard, either."

The Utah County Health and Justice Center will have more vaccine to give out Nov. 3.

The injectable version is now available for children ages 6 months to 24 months, pregnant women and people with an underlying medical condition such as asthma. The nasal spray is available to healthy individuals ages 2 to 49 years.

For updates on availability, call the health department's information line at 801-851-2222, or call 2-1-1.

e-mail: slenz@desnews.com