Flu shots available for those at risk

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 9:24 a.m.

Clark County Health District officials expect to have enough flu vaccine for high-risk individuals through this week.

The Health District on Wednesday administered 2,559 flu shots at the clnic, beginning at 8 a.m. and running until 4:30 p.m., Jennifer Sizemore, a spokeswoman for the district, said.

The lines were shorter on Wednesday compared with Tuesday's crowd of more than 3,200 high-risk people who were eligible to receive the shots.

The Health District has given a total of 5,838 shots in two days and 4,162 doses are still available, Sizemore said.

The crowd, which at times wrapped around the Health District's complex on Shadow Lane off Charleston Boulevard in western Las Vegas on Tuesday, was standing for up to two hours in wintery air that dipped into the low 30s, she said.

However, the wait shrunk to minutes on Wednesday and there were no lengthy lines.

The Health District also received 800 doses of pediatric vaccine on Wednesday. Nurses will begin administering shots immediately to children 6 months to 18 years of age. Pediatric doses have been available earlier at some physicians' offices in Clark County, Sizemore said.

The Health District recently received a 10,000-shot allocation of flu vaccine from the state Health Division, she said. Similar immunization clinics are scheduled today and Friday until the agency runs out of vaccine. The shots will be administered at the Clark County Health District, 625 Shadow Lane near Charleston and Rancho Drive, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For more information about the Health District's flu clinic, call (702) 385-4636.