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In less than 24 hours, all of the H1N1 vaccinations offered at a clinic organized by the city of Bowie, and scheduled for Saturday, were spoken for.

The city announced the free H1N1 flu shot clinic on its Web site and via an e-mail alert system at 4 p.m. Monday. By Tuesday, officials had scheduled appointments for all 200 of the vaccinations they expect to have available, said Bowie communications coordinator Una Cooper. The clinic is being held at City Hall.

"We got about 50 calls in about a half-hour yesterday afternoon," Cooper said.

She believes residents rushed to make appointments because the vaccines have not yet been available at most schools in the city, she said.

The Prince George's County Health Department plans to offer vaccinations at all county schools this year but does not have an entire schedule of the vaccinations yet, said spokeswoman Dellia Hawthorne-Williams. As of last week, 4,100 students in 27 elementary schools had received their first dose of the vaccine, with a second dose expected in December, she said.

The only Bowie school to hold a vaccination clinic was Pointer Ridge Elementary School.

"We're getting ready to start setting a schedule for middle and high schools as well," Hawthorne-Williams said.

The city has wanted to hold a clinic for some time, but acquiring the vaccine has taken time due to overall shortages, Cooper said.

If the city is able to get access to more vaccines, officials might organize another clinic at a later date, Cooper said.

A free walk-in H1N1 clinic sponsored by the county health department is being held by the county from 9 a.m. to noon today at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex, located at 8001 Sheriff Road in Landover.

The vaccines are available for priority populations only, which consist of pregnant women, people ages six through 24, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, caregivers of children younger than 6 months, and people ages 25 through 64 who have health conditions associated with higher risk for medical complications from the flu.

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.