Lake Co. gets more H1N1 flu vaccine

An appointment-only supply of H1N1 flu vaccine was claimed quickly Wednesday.

The Lake County Health Department said early in the day that 2,500 doses would be made available at the Highland Park Recreation Center from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. But by early evening, all the appointments had been scheduled, according to Leslie Piotrowski, spokeswoman for the department.

"They filled up within four hours," she said.

A Web site and phone bank at times were clogged by those hoping to snare a first-come, first-served appointment after a health department update was sent by e-mail to all Lake County Board members, schools, villages and other entities.

"Everybody was passing around e-mails," Piotrowski said.

Lake County received 15,000 doses of the vaccine late last week, but for now, its supply is exhausted.

"We also allocated doses to a lot of practitioners and providers who serve clientele in the high-risk groups," Piotrowski said. "Probably next week we'll get another shipment in."

For the Highland Park clinic, about 2,000 doses will be available for people at least 4 years old and about 500 doses will be available for children between 6 months and 35 months old.

No vaccine will be available for children between 36 and 47 months old.

The clinic is specifically for people in high priority target groups, such as:

• People who are between 6 months and 24 years old.

• Caretakers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months old.

• Pregnant women.

• Health care workers and emergency-services personnel.

• People 25 to 64 years old who have underlying medical conditions, such as asthma or diabetes.

For a list of Lake County public sites that will provide the vaccine in the near future, visit: idph.state.il.us/h1n1_flu/vaccine_locations/sf_vaccine_locations_lake.htm.