Jennifer Luff spent Thursday, Oct. 29 waiting.

She was near the front of the line at the Warrick County Health Department's H1N1 vaccine clinic, but still waited for nearly five hours. She wasn't the only one who spent her day on the courthouse lawn, though.

Sharon James, R.N., Supervisor of the Nursing Department at the Warrick County Health Department, said that some people got there before she started her work day a little before 8 a.m.

The health department was able to administer approximately 690 vaccines and didn't have to turn anybody away, something they did at the last clinic.

"We did everybody that was in line," James said. "We even had a little bit of downtime towards the end, but yeah, we did everybody. We didn't close the door before we were done, before 8 p.m."

Thursday's free clinic was only for the target groups - pregnant women, household contacts of babies under 6 months of age, children 6 months to 5 years, and school age children who cannot receive the nasal spray due to health issues or risk factors. Luff said that she had more than one reason for wanting the vaccine.

"I'm pregnant and I've heard all the warnings about if you're pregnant and how the H1N1 can affect you because pregnant women's immune systems are weakened," Luff said. "We are much more likely to be hospitalized or to die from it."

James said that pregnancy doesn't actually change what the virus does, but it can complicate any additional health concerns. Pregnancy can make women more susceptible to the H1N1 strain, and with a weakened immune system, the chance for the virus to lead to pneumonia is much higher.

But pregnant women aren't the only people who should consider the vaccine. James said that people under 30 have a greater risk of contracting H1N1 than the older generations.

"Anybody born before 1950, they feel that they have been in contact with a virus with similar characteristics as H1N1," James said. "It's not ever been H1N1 before, but it has similar characteristics. Therefore, you may have some built-in immunity. Younger than that has a little more risk."

The H1N1 vaccine will not protect against the seasonal flu, but James said that most Warrick County residents have figured that out. The demand for both vaccines has been much higher than in the past. Warrick County is currently out of the seasonal flu vaccine, James said, and she doesn't know if or when another shipment of the seasonal flu vaccine will come in.

But, that isn't the case with the H1N1 vaccine. She said that there is plenty to go around, it just takes a little time.

"They have to incubate it in eggs and it just takes a while to grow," James said. "But, there really isn't a shortage, it's just a time factor."

The next H1N1 clinic is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the old courthouse building in Boonville. The clinic is for pregnant women, household contacts of babies under 6 months of age, children and young people 6 months to 24 years old and people age 24 to 64 who have chronic medical conditions. Elementary, middle and high school children who are eligible to receive the vaccination at school are not eligible for the clinic. No exceptions to the target groups will be made and those wanting a vaccination must show proof of residency. Visit our Web site, www.warricknews.com, for up-to-date information on local H1N1 clinics.