With a chilly mist of rain falling and temperatures dipping in the 40s Friday afternoon, Morton parents lined up with their children to receive the H1N1 vaccination at Grundy Elementary.
From 2:30 to 8 p.m., students in Morton schools were offered free vaccinations through the Tazewell County Health Department.
The lines were nowhere near as long as some were reported at Washington’s Beverly Manor, where residents waited more than two hours to receive the vaccination, said Tazewell County ESDA worker Gary Lawson. But, that was because the Morton clinics were only available to Morton students.
Most parents said the wait was closer to an hour for those who showed up at Grundy Elementary that afternoon.
Mortonite Naomi Anderson brought her two children to receive the vaccination “to make sure,” she said.
Her daughter, 11-year-old Yuma Anderson, said she wanted to get the vaccination because she worried about the H1N1 virus.
“I’m kind of scared of getting swine flu,” Anderson said. “So, it makes me feel better that I got it.”
Anderson said she received the nasal vaccination.
“It was kind of cold,” she said. “It felt like I had a runny nose.”
For some parents, research was the best way to decided between the nasal vaccination and the shot.
Lou and Stephanie Davila of Morton brought their children to receive the vaccination because both of their sons have complications with asthma.
Both the boys received a shot rather than the nasal injection. It was an educated decision the Davilas made after Stephanie researched the vaccine online.
“We’re kind of worried about (H1N1),” Stephanie said. “Both of our boys have asthma.”
When she learned they had an option of either a nasal injection or a shot, she said she logged on to her computer to decide which was best for her boys.
A total of 423 doses were administered Friday at Grundy. About 100 of those were nasal vaccinations.
Four clinics for Morton students were scheduled, but are not open to the public, said Tazewell County Health Department community relations manager Sara Sparkman.
“That was just publicized through the schools,” she said.
The Tazewell County health department has since run out of the vaccination and is currently awaiting another delivery. One private Morton clinic was canceled due to the shortage of the vaccine.
“We divided the schools up in Morton,” Sparkman said. “Today, we were supposed to do one, but we had to cancel because we are out of vaccinations.”
Sparkman said the health department will decided one day prior to a clinic if it needs to be canceled due to a shortage.
The shortage has created a logistics nightmare at the health department, she added.
“It’s hard on us because we’ve rescheduled our whole staff,” Sparkman said. “We have to rethink the way we’re working our hours.”
