By Nick Cenegy

Contributor  

Published October 31, 2009

TEXAS CITY — As expected, there was a healthy turnout of people Friday morning at Mall of the Mainland to be some of the first in the area to receive the H1N1 vaccine.  

Beginning about 9:20 a.m., Galveston County Health District staff opened the lines to a waiting group of a few hundred people and began administering the shots. 

Staff members began processing people through the snaking lines about 20 minutes ahead of schedule because they had arrived early and were ready to get the process under way, Kurt Koopmann, public information officer for the Galveston County Health District, said. In total, county health workers vaccinated around 2,700 people.  

Koopmann said the staff was a little more productive than organizers expected. 

Participants were largely from within the county and included many who were considered to be in high-risk groups advised by health officials to get the vaccine.  

Among the early group of residents was Cindy Flynn, of La Marque, her daughter Lindsay Bersen, of League City, and Bersen’s baby girl, Haley. 

The mother and grandmother work in the office of a Clear Lake physician and said they were conscious of contagious illnesses, but they have become extra wary because of 17-month-old Haley.  

Flynn said both she and Bersen received their vaccinations recently through work, but Haley wasn’t eligible. They came to take advantage of the free vaccinations Friday.  

“We are in contact with about 175 patients a day, and (Haley) goes to day care,” Flynn said. “We are very conscious of it.” 

The women said they try to augment the vaccinations with hand sanitizer and try to remain aware of where infectious germs can be exchanged.  

Flynn said she even is concerned sometimes about touching shopping carts for fear of picking up an illness. 

Behind them stood a mass of people cordoned off by velvet ropes, fanning themselves in the donated space where there was once a store.  

One woman in the line said she had been there since 7 a.m. A few had folding chairs.  

In the first hour, the health district was poised to reach its predicted 300 person per hour vaccination rate, and workers expected that to continue, Koopmann said.  

The county health district intends to administer what remains of the original 5,000 available H1N1 vaccine doses until they run out today. Koopmann reiterated the health district’s recommendation that any residents who fall under the targeted group make an effort to come to the mall to be vaccinated. All other residents are welcome, and none will be turned away, Koopmann said.

Kurt Koopmann

kkoopman@gchd.org