Thousands Line Up In Tulsa For The H1N1 Vaccine

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- More than 5,000 people, all ages and risk groups, stood in long lines to get the H1N1 vaccine Wednesday afternoon at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds.

The Tulsa Health Department reports it’s the busiest they've been for an H1N1 clinic.

“A lot more crowded than I thought, yeah,” said Donna Jones of Tulsa.

Nine-hundred shots were administered within the first hour. It was twice as busy as Tuesday's clinic, when short notice of the vaccine opening up to everybody meant short lines.

“I think that this is really the first day that people had that information and were wanting to come out and get the shot,” said Melanie Christian of the Tulsa Health Department.

The Mayfield family says it’s worth the wait.

“We figure for the no cost, we can sacrifice that amount of time for the vaccination,” said Renae Mayfield, an uninsured mom.

Renae lost her job as an administrative assistant in early August. She has been looking for a job, but says it’s a very tough economy for secretarial work.

“We don’t have currently any medical insurance right now. So if we did get the flu shot, we would be up a creek,” said Mayfield.

For more information about the availability of H1N1 influenza vaccine in your area, call your local county health department or visit www.ok.gov/health/.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health toll-free H1N1 hotline is 1-866-278-7134.

Complete list of flu clinics in all Oklahoma counties