Thousands line up for H1N1 vaccine - Thousands of people lined up at several locations Friday across the Triangle, just hoping to get the H1N1 vaccine. | ABC11 Raleigh-Durham

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By ABC11

Saturday, October 31, 2009

WAKE COUNTY One of those places was the Talley Student Center at NC State University, where for the first time a mass clinic was held just for students.

"We're here most out of concern for our son to make sure he's as protected as he can possibly be," parent Lamont Cannon said.

The vaccine is hard to get across the country.

"It's disappointing that it's so difficult to get, but I know everyone's trying their best," parent Stephanie Brennan said. "In fact my doctor recommended that we come here to try and get the flu shot."

Currently, only priority groups can get the vaccine. That includes students under the age of 24 like those who lined up at NC State.

"I hear there's a huge outbreak here at NC State," NC State senior Kacyn Willis said. "I know several people that had it in class."

Pregnant women and certain people with medical conditions will also get first dibs.

Others are being turned away and some clinics have run out of the vaccine.

Dr. Jeff Engel with the Department of Health and Human Services is reassuring the public.

"It's a bumpy road in the beginning," Engel said. "We think it will smooth out over the next weeks and by late November, we're hoping that anybody who wants it will be able to get it."

He is also easing fears for parents who can't find Tamiflu for their children who are already sick.

"We have plenty of adult strength capsules which can be broken apart and compounded into a pediatric formulation so any pharmacist can do that," Dr. Jeffrey Engel with DHHS said.