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The Frederick County Health Department is planning to hold its third swine flu clinic today.
The Health Department received an additional 800 doses of the injectable form of the H1N1 vaccine Monday, enough to hold a third clinic.
Residents in both Frederick and Carroll counties have been lining up to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus in the last several weeks.
The Carroll County Health Department vaccinated 2,700 people at its swine flu clinic on Nov. 10. "It took us down to nothing," said Carroll County Health Officer Larry L. Leitch.
Carroll County has two more clinics scheduled this week.
The Frederick County Health Department administered the vaccine at a swine flu clinic Nov. 12.
More than 570 Frederick County residents who scheduled appointments to receive the H1N1 shot for themselves or their children received shots at the second swine flu clinic in Frederick.
The Health Department received 750 doses of the injectable vaccine from the CDC.
"The amount we have on hand changes often due to the unpredictable nature of deliveries and because vaccine quantities obviously change when we hold clinics," said Angela Blair, the Frederick County Health Department's community health educator, in an e-mail Tuesday.
Blair said she hopes the county can hold H1N1 clinics on a weekly basis.
Vaccination clinics in both Frederick and Carroll counties have been running smoothly, health officials and residents contend.
"It went very well," Leitch said. "People were very courteous. Only two people, shall we say, got grumpy. Even though there were long lines there was always a sense of movement."
Darlene Armacost, manager of the Frederick County Health Department's nursing program, was happy to see that people had little, if any, wait.
"Things are going very well, just by the fact that we're getting people through," she said. "People aren't waiting in long lines. I'm very pleased with how things are going."
Nineteen-month-old Atley Shafer of Jefferson was all smiles and a bit talkative as she sat with her mom in a waiting area after getting her vaccination in Frederick on Nov. 12.
Atley's mother, Dee Shafer, said "The Frederick County Health Department is doing a great job."
Lori Sood of Frederick, pregnant with her second child, came to the clinic with her 2-year-old daughter, Annelese.
Sood, who had already received her shot from her private physician, said since she was pregnant, she thought it was important to vaccinate her daughter.
"I don't want to run the risk since I'm having a baby in a month," she said. "I got vaccinated a month ago with no complications. I was very lucky to get the shot."
Danielle Barger, 13, and her brother, Timmy, 11, from New Market, also came to the clinic with their mother, Kelly.
Kelly Barger said her other three children received the mist form of the vaccine at their school, Deer Crossing Elementary.
"I'm a substitute teacher and I work with little kids, so I thought it was important [to get the vaccine]," she said. "There are definitely mixed reports about whether to get it or not. But we thought it was important."
Barger said she discussed the vaccine with her husband and they determined it was necessary.
"We have a friend who is 17 and was in the hospital for over a week with the [H1N1] flu," she said. "So it hit close to home."
E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.
Health departments in Frederick and Carroll counties will have limited vaccines for the H1N1 flu virus available this week.
The following clinics are for priority groups identified by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): pregnant women, people ages six months to 24 years, people ages 25-64 with chronic health conditions, health care and emergency workers and caregivers of children less than six months old.
Frederick County
-10 a.m.-2 p.m., today, Church of the Redeemer (the old Circuit City building), 5606 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick
-Injected vaccine only
-Registration is by appointment only. Call 1-866-226-8628 (English) or 1-866-226-8632 (Spanish).
Carroll County
- 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Sykesville (injected vaccine only)
-10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday at Friendship Valley Elementary School, 1100 Gist Road, Westminster (injected vaccine and FluMist). Note: This clinic is for children ages six months to 5 years only.
-Clinics could be canceled based on vaccine availability. For information about changes to these dates and times, call the Carroll County Flu Hotline at 410-876-3003 visit www.carrollhealthdepartment.
