FAIRFAX, Va. - Fairfax County (web | news) held a swine flu clinic Oct. 24 at the County Government Center and had enough vaccines to vaccinate about 12,000 people. There were still long lines and waits of two hours, but officials said there were vaccines for all who attended.

Oakdale resident Jennifer Ruben decided that the time was right to bring her 17-month-old son, Bryce, for his H1N1 shot.

“It was pouring when we got here, but I kept checking the Web site because they were giving updates,” said Ruben.

“We’ve been having trouble just getting his seasonal flu shot since they’ve been unavailable so I just thought now is a good time to do it. Might as well take advantage of the free clinic,” said Ruben.

The Fairfax County Government Center was converted Saturday into a massive swine flu vaccination clinic.

“We have full control within this building. We have site assistance and we have people counting how many people are coming through,” said Gloria Addoaddo-Ayensu, Fairfax County Health Director.

Officials said the goal was 12,000 vaccinations at 1,500 an hour. The target groups were young children from 6 months to 3 years of age and pregnant moms.

“It’s an important thing to do to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and children,” said Elaine Turner, Reston resident.

Many residents say they braved the long lines and rainy weather because they are not taking chances.

“We actually talked to our HMO and they said they are going to have some at some point, but they don’t know when. We figure it’s better safe than sorry,” said Ben Allen, Annandale resident.

Fairfax County originally planned to have vaccinations at 10 different sites, enough for 45,000 people, but said they didn’t have enough supplies. So they said operations were scaled back to have 12,000 vaccines at Saturday’s fair.

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