by Josh Poland
j.poland@krdo.com
twitter.com/joshpoland

CANON CITY - Hundreds of Fremont County residents are taking advantage of free H1N1 clinics offered by the county health department.

The second clinic got underway Tuesday afternoon at the First Christian Church in Canon City.

"I have three kids and all three of them got a shot and then I got my shot," says Ashley Pate.

Pate says getting to the flu clinic became her top priority Monday night. That is when she found out the 4-year-old son of her mother's boss died of H1N1.

"I had already planned on coming but that just made it even more important that I got my kids at least immunized right now," she says.

Others in line shared that sense of urgency.

Health officials estimated a larger crowd than the nearly 200 people who attended the initial clinic.

"People are anxious and I think anxious especially for children...their children...to be vaccinated," says Laurie Wertzbaugher, a registered nurse with Fremont County Public Health.

Wertzbaugher says H1N1 has been most noticeable among children. It is spreading through the schools.

Health officials hope these free clinics will keep that spreading to a minimum.

"We hope so," says Wertzbaugher. "We're getting people vaccinated so we hope so. That's the goal anyway."

If you are a Fremont County resident and you missed this week's clinic, you're still in luck. There are clinics planned for every Tuesday afternoon until the vaccine supply is gone.

You do have to be in a target group to qualify for the free vaccine. This week's targets were children ages 6 months to 4 years old and 5 to 18 year-old children with chronic medical conditions. Also, parents and caregivers with children under 6 months, health-care workers and first responders could take the vaccines. Next week's clinic could also target adults with chronic medical conditions.

Call Fremont County Public Health at 719-275-1626 for more information.