Indiana has been one of the fastest states in the country to order and receive the H1N1 vaccine.
Saturday, the Floyd County Health Department held the first swine flu vaccine clinic in our area and it focused on children.
That day about 280 people were vaccinated.
Children don't like shots and that means the H1N1 vaccine too but parents at the clinic say it may be worth it.
"There are so many infant deaths and fatalities with this it's important to get them vaccinated. I don't want to take any chances," said Stephanie Hauge of Jeffersonville.
Before the doors even opened at the Floyd County Health Department, families were lining up to get this shot because this shot you can’t get just anywhere.
"We had tried to find one everywhere. Our county had it in the paper Wednesday, they were out by Thursday morning. Harrison Co. can't get us in for a few weeks. We just haven't been able to find one anywhere," said Ashley O’Connell who travelled an hour to get a vaccine for her child.
That's because unlike the spread of the virus, the spread of the vaccine is spotty.
"We don't know how much vaccine we're going to get. I can't tell you today I'm going to get 500 doses on Tuesday. Even the state agency doesn't know what they are getting so the problem is, we have to wait for it to show up then we can start making plans to disseminate it," said Dr. Tom Harrison.
So this first clinic in our area is targeting children who are most at risk.
In fact, nearly half of all the people who have been hospitalized because of the virus have been under the age of 18.
"It’s a bad flu. There’s no mistaking that but with vaccination, and with good healthcare, it's a treatable disorder," said Dr. Harrison.
But these parents say they don't want their kids to be treated at all because they want to stop it before it happens.
Kentucky is still waiting for shipments of the H1N1 vaccine for the general population.
Its likely area students will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to get the vaccine at school and when that happens, parents will need to sign a permission slip.
