Hours for the Upper Missouri District Health Unit H1N1 vaccination clinics are being shortened this week, while people in previously publicized priority groups are still encouraged to get their shots this week.

This past Wednesday's clinic at Williston ran from 1-5 p.m., with 171 vaccinations given, said UMDHU public information officer Daphne Clark. Previously clinics ran until 7 p.m.

"We found that even with the 1-5, toward that 5 o'clock, people really started tappering off," Clark said.

This past Friday's vaccination total in Williston wasn't as many as health unit officials wanted to see, "but was more than we expected on the holiday weekend," she said.

The health unit held the clinic so area residents wouldn't miss a week of having an opportunity to get the H1N1 vaccination. Wednesday's clinic was the first fully publicized opportunity for people ages 25-64 with underlying health conditions to get vaccinated.

"Talking with some people in the community, people weren't really understanding what the underlying health conditions meant," Clark said. "We had a couple of instances where we had conversations with diabetics and we told them they needed to get vaccinated."

Underlying health conditions for people ages 25-64 include asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer or chronic lung disease.

"We kind of want to stress that this week, that those people need to get vaccinated," Clark said.

The overall priority groups for H1N1 vaccination continue to be children ages 6 months to 24 years, pregnant women, caregivers of infants younger than 6 months and people ages 25-64 with underlying health conditions

Meanwhile, the majority of the people who attended this past Wednesday's clinic were children who returned for their second dose of the H1N1 vaccine. It takes two doses of the vaccine for children under age 9 to be protected. The second dose is needed 28 days after the first dose.

Clark believes there are still quite a few children who need their second H1N1 vaccine.

"We have seen at the last two clinics a pretty good chunk coming through," she said of children age 9 and younger. "There may have been some people last week who hesitated to get vaccinated before the holiday weekend and traveling."

This week's clinics begin today in Crosby at Divide County High School from 4-6 p.m. or until the vaccine runs out. Wednesday's clinic at the Watford City Civic Center is from 1-5 p.m. or until the vaccine runs out. Thursday's clinic at the Stanley Memorial Building is from 1-5 or until the vaccine runs out. Lastly, Williston's clinic is at the health unit from 1-5 p.m. or until the vaccine runs out.

Clark said the health unit has allotments of the H1N1 vaccine coming this week and they are expected to hold steady with smaller shipments.

Meanwhile, the rest of the public may soon be able to get in line for the H1N1 vaccine.

"They're talking out a couple of weeks, possibly we would be able to open it up," Clark said of indications from the state health department.