More News

Frances Foltz and her husband David walked into the Rockville Library last Thursday, followed the bright yellow signs to the H1N1 clinic, and received their vaccines in less than 20 minutes.

When they took their four children to H1N1 clinics in the fall — at a time when vaccines were available in limited supplies and swine flu hysteria was at near-fever pitch — they had to wait in long lines.

"We've been amazed at how great this has been," Foltz, of Derwood, said of last week's clinic. "It was quick and wonderfully nice."

Now that vaccine doses are more plentiful, the frenzy seems to have lessened.

But Marta Gill, the registered nurse with the Montgomery County Department of Public Health Services who managed the clinic Thursday, said that even though the public concern over swine flu has waned in recent weeks, it is still important for people to get vaccinated.

"Pandemics come in waves," she said. "We had the first two waves, and we're still waiting to see the third wave."

To this end, the county is sponsoring eight more H1N1 clinics in January that are free and open to anyone who makes an appointment on the county's flu information line or on its newly launched Web site.

About 300 appointments were scheduled for the clinic in Rockville last week, and walk-ins were also accepted.

Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Health and Human Services, said that so long as there is demand for the vaccine, the county will continue to schedule clinics.

"Now would be a great time for people to get the vaccine," she said. "We're now in the middle of what the typical flu season would be."

The limited supply was a problem at the height of concern over H1N1 last year, but there is ample supply now, Anderson said.

Gill said the Rockville Library clinic was stocked with all four variations of the vaccine.

For most people the standard injection or the nasal mist are the best options, but there are special formulations for young children and pregnant women, Gill said.

In the fall, only high-risk groups such as children, the elderly and pregnant women were given the vaccine.

Long lines and chaotic scenes outside the clinics, where police officers were often on hand to control the crowd, were normal.

One clinic for people between 2 and 24 years old at Rockville High School in October ran out of 1,000 doses in 45 minutes and people began lining up at Montgomery College's Rockville campus hours before a November clinic began to make sure they received a dose of the vaccine.

A second clinic at Montgomery College's Rockville campus scheduled for Dec. 20 was cancelled because of a heavy snowfall.

The swine flu reared its ugly head in Montgomery County last spring when Rockville High School had to be closed for several days because of a reported case there.

By the end of November, Maryland had received more than 1 million doses of vaccine from the federal government and reported about 30 deaths associated with the H1N1 virus.

At the end of December, as concern over the virus began to fade, Dr. Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, warned that despite the worst of the flu outbreak being over in North America, many more people could get sick as the winter continued.

Foltz and her husband decided that since the vaccine is no longer in short supply, they should get in line themselves.

"It's the smart thing to do," she said.

Get your flu shot

Make an appointment for H1N1 vaccinations at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/h1n1flu or call 240-777-4040 1-4 p.m. Jan. 25.

The H1N1 vaccination will be given free at clinics around the county. Both nasal spray and injection vaccines will be available.

Upcounty clinics are scheduled as follows:

Thursday, 3-6 p.m., Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave.

Jan. 26, 1-4 p.m., Germantown Library, 19840 Century Blvd.

Jan. 28, 5- 8 p.m., Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Ave.

Clinics will be canceled in case of inclement weather based on the Montgomery County Public Schools schedule.

The Flu Information Line, 240-777-4200, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.