So much on the line

2,000 residents wait hours to get vaccine for deadly swine flu

PLAINFIELD -- More than 2,000 people, mostly parents and their children, flocked to Plainfield Central High School on Wednesday to get free H1N1 flu mist vaccines.

People started lining up outside the school at 1:30 p.m., even though the Will County Health Department's first of seven flu clinics didn't start until 3 p.m., said Brian McDaniel, a spokesman for the health department. The wait for an inoculation was about three hours long.

Even with the huge turnout, the scene at Plainfield Central was orderly as parents and their antsy kids waited outside in a long line that snaked past the football stadium along the James Street sidewalk to Ottawa Street. Once inside the building, adults filled out paperwork and headed into the school's cafeteria for the vaccine.

Nurses stationed at numerous tables calmly dispensed the nasal spray. The process was simple: tip your head back, wait for the mist, sniff, grab a tissue and disinfect your hands with antibacterial gel.

It wasn't a shot, but for some of the younger kids, no amount of reassurance by parents could ease their fears.

"It doesn't hurt honey; it's not a shot," nurse Cathie Bielec said trying to calm one boy.

But it didn't work. Though an adult had him in a vise grip, the boy wriggled and screamed until his wails dissolved into a phlegm-choked gasp. Finally, he came up for air and Bielec was able to dispense the mist.

One 5-year-old, Jason Jilek of Minooka, was a little tougher. He calmly waited for his inoculation.

"I was very brave," he told his mother, Karin Jilek, as she zipped his jacket. "Now can I get some popcorn?"

The school's snack bar was open, and the scent of popcorn wafted through the cafeteria.

His mom got the mist, too, because she works for a daycare center -- putting her in the priority group for the vaccine.

"I'm in the child care business, and it's all about prevention," she said. "I did a little homework, as with anything else. I looked at the facts and decided it was safe enough to go ahead and get the vaccine."

Katherine Kruzel, of Plainfield, stood in line from 2:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. so her three children, Kyle, 13, Abigail, 10, and Amanda, 7, could be inoculated. Kruzel said Amanda was off school for six days last year with the flu.

"My brother is a pharmacist and he recommended that if I had the opportunity to bring them here that I should do it," she said. "... I can afford the time to stand in line."

H1N1, or swine flu, warnings are all over the media, so that probably boosted attendance at the clinic, said John Cicero, the health department's executive director.

"I think there's just a big concern on the part of families," he said. "What we saw in the spring was it was the young kids who were affected. The elderly are not on a priority list right now for this vaccine. It's affected young children and adolescents."

Will County's first H1N1 death was a 47-year-old Naperville resident, but younger people in Sandwich and Naperville have died, too.

Vaccine supplies are low right now, and that probably spiked demand as well, Cicero added.

Eventually, when more vaccine becomes available, it will be more widely available at pharmacies, private doctor's offices and other medical clinics, Cicero said.

"There's going to be a lot of places to go," he said. "But right now, we're the only game in town."

The next Will County Health Department free flu clinic starts at 5:30 p.m. today at Joliet Central High School. Limited quantities of thimerosal-free shots will be available for children 6-35 month old, McDaniel said.

Only the flu mist inoculation will be offered at clinics until the health department receives its injectable flu vaccine supply, McDaniel said. Because the department only had the mist Wednesday, the clinic was limited to healthy people ages 6 months to 24 years old or 25-49 year olds who care for infants six months and younger.

People over the age of 49 with chronic health conditions must get the flu shot at a later date when it becomes available, which could be any day, McDaniel explained.

"If you have a chronic health condition, the flu mist you cannot take," he said. "If you have diabetes, if you have asthma, if you have chronic heart disease or if you're pregnant, you cannot take this (mist) vaccine."