Although the clinic was to run from 2-7 p.m. or until the supply of the vaccine ran out, a line began to steadily grow alongside the health unit offices at 110 West Broadway by 1 p.m. By the time doors opened, the line ran the length of the building and was beginning to stretch down Fourth Street West.
Health unit public information officer Daphne Clark said Friday's turnout was the largest it saw during its first week of clinics that started in Crosby this past Tuesday before heading to Watford City, Stanley and then Williston.
Like the earlier clinics, Friday's had a priority to administer the vaccine to children ages 6 months to 18 years. This attracted a large number of parents with their children alongside them who patiently waited first for the clinic to begin, and then to see if they would actually receive the vaccine.
Friday's line continued to extend to and turned onto the public sidewalk on the north side of the block as 3:30 p.m. arrived. Clark said it is unlikely that all of the people in line Friday were going to receive the vaccine. How many people received the vaccine is influenced by how many are physically able to take the vaccine mist that is taken through a person's nostrils, she said. The more people who can take the mist, the more vaccine that remains for those who can only receive a shot.
One eager parent waiting his turn Friday was Trenton's Willy Turcotte. He stood in line with his four children ages 9, 6, 5 and 3. Turcotte and his family got in line outside the health unit office at around 1 p.m., finding themselves a little over 20 feet from the front of the line.
He had heard about how the health unit was providing clinics this week in the area and planned for a week to get his children to the Willliston clinic.
"There's a lot of this flu going around so we figured we'd better get this for the kids, better safe than sorry," said Turcotte.
He said the decision to get the shot for his children wasn't a tough one to make. Turcotte was successful at getting the day off from his job at Black Hills Trucking and added it wasn't a shock to see a line. But it was a shock to see such an extremely long line gather so long before the clinic began.
"I was expecting a line something like this, so I'm glad that we were able to get here and be this close," said Turcotte.
Another parent patiently waiting her turn was Williston's Kristina Herndon. She found herself waiting more than halfway down the sidewalk between the entrance and the corner with her 10-month-old son comfortably nestled in a stroller. She arrived around 1:20 p.m.
"I've known about this event for quite awhile now," said Herndon.
Herndon has heard some talk about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, but she said the concern for keeping her family safe from the H1N1 flu outweighed everything.
"My nephew had it. Even though that was out in Billings, I'm making sure none of us get it," said Herndon.
The health unit was not charging for the H1N1 vaccine or administrative costs.
Main priority groups outside of children include pregnant women, caregivers for children under 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical service personnel, all people between 6 months of age through 24 years of age and those between 25-64 with health conditions.
For information on priority groups, times and locations of clinics visit the Upper Missouri District Health Unit Web site for updates at www.umdhu.org.
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