UPDATED 4:10 p.m. : As of 4 p.m., 900 doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine had been administered. There was a short wait to be vaccinated.

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UPDATED 3:10 p.m. : By 3 p.m., 600 doses of vaccine had been administered, and there was still no wait.

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UPDATED 2:05 p.m. : Nurses vaccinated 350 people during the clinic’s first hour. As of 2 p.m., there was no wait to receive a vaccine.

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UPDATED 1:25 p.m. :  A walk-clinic to vaccinate people against H1N1 influenza got under way at 1 p.m. today. There was about a 15 minute wait to be vaccinated.

Health officials hope to vaccinate 1,500 people this afternoon. The free clinic will remain open until 7 p.m. or until vaccine runs out.

People can receive the H1N1 flu vaccine if they are:

• Pregnant
• Caregivers or family members of infants younger than 6 months old.
• Emergency or medical services personnel.
• Healthy children age 6 months to 24 years old.
• Adults age 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions.

 

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MORNING REPORT:

Health officials are prepared to vaccinate 1,500 people against H1N1 influenza today during a community clinic at the Shrine Auditorium.

The clinic will begin at 1 p.m. and last until 7 p.m. or until vaccine runs out. At a similar clinic last Monday, 200 doses were left over, and there were many times throughout the afternoon when there was no wait to be vaccinated.

It will be the fifth walk-in clinic held in Billings since the vaccine first arrived here in early October. Almost 15,000 doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine have come to Yellowstone County this fall.

RiverStone Health, the county’s public health agency, received 3,700 doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine on Friday. Of those, 1,500 will be available at today’s clinic at the Shrine, 1125 Broadwater Ave. The remainder will be divided among RiverStone, St. Vincent Healthcare and Billings Clinic for established patients.

Vaccinations are limited to these groups: pregnant women, caregivers of or people who live with children younger than 6 months old, healthy people from 6 months to 24 years old, health care and emergency services personnel, and people age 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions.