By DANIEL HUMAN
Tears rolled down many children’s cheeks Sunday as they tried to rub the pain out of their syringe-pricked arms.
Hundreds of families lined up outside Havens Auditorium on Indiana University Kokomo’s campus for the first of three public H1N1 vaccine clinics held by the Howard County Health Department and IU Kokomo nursing program.
The serpentine line of people formed in front of the doors before the event, which began about noon, but the crowds of people were serviced in a little more than an hour after the clinic began.
Karen Lopke, H1N1 administrator for the health department, said the average wait time was about 17 minutes start-to-finish during the initial rush after the doors opened.
The quick pace and smooth process was a surprise to everyone.
“We didn’t know how many people were going to show up at the front door initially because there have been some very negative clinics around the country,” Lopke said. “... We didn’t know, No. 1, how much vaccine we were going to have. We didn’t know how many people were going to show up.”
The approximately 100 staff members and volunteers had an arsenal of about 4,100 vaccinations — in syringe and nasal forms — ready to administer to children. The target recipients were children ages 6 months through fifth grade, but the clinic also offered the vaccine to pregnant women.
Parents began lining up several hours before the doors opened, causing a line to stretch down the block.
Once volunteers and staff let the people in, the line passed through the auditorium and around back hallways to a screening area where volunteers then decided what type of H1N1 vaccine would be best. Any children who were sick were turned away to avoid spreading the virus.
Volunteers then herded the families into classrooms where children received the vaccinations.
“I didn’t think it’d go this well,” said Kokomo resident John Chesser, who arrived about an hour before doors opened. He brought his son to receive a shot. “I was very, very well surprised. ... You can’t do better than what they’ve done.”
Within two hours of beginning the clinic, which ran until 5 p.m., between 350 and 400 people passed through the doors.
Health Department Administrator Kent Weaver said part of the reason the day went smoothly was because parents were able to keep their children calm.
“They’ve done a wonderful job keeping their kids under control,” Weaver said. “If a family had one kid crying, they all were crying.”
The health department partnered with the university as a way to find more helping hands.
Linda Wallace, dean of IUK’s nursing program, said Sunday served as a way for the nursing students to obtain some clinical experience, but most of them did not receive any class credit.
Faculty and staff from other university departments also volunteered, Wallace said.
The health department and university have planned the next vaccine clinic, which is targeted at the same age group, for Sunday. The third is Dec. 6. The hours and location will remain the same.
The Center for Disease Control recommends children younger than 9 receive a second vaccination for full immunization to the virus. But the second and third clinic will be targeted toward vaccinating children who have yet to receive a first shot for H1N1, Lopke said.
• Daniel Human is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He can be reached at 765-454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.
If You Go
• WHAT: H1N1 vaccination clinic
• WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 6
• WHERE: Indiana University Kokomo
• See additional dates on A10.
