Montgomery County Struggles To Meet H1N1 Vaccine Demand

By Jonathan Wilson

Health department directors are still urging people to get the H1N1 vaccine, but responses from residents have varied across the region.

D.C.'s health director Dr. Pierre Vigilance says some of the district's clinics have been packed, while others, especially in the eastern part of the city, have not. "The further east that we've gone, and in ward seven and ward eight particularly, I've noticed that we've not had as much uptake of the vaccine in those areas," says Vigilance.

Mark Hodge, with the health department in Montgomery County, Maryland is facing a different issue. Wednesday morning's appointment-only clinic filled up in 25 minutes. "Every clinic we've done so far we've had to turn people away because we've run out of vaccine," says Hodge.

Hodge says Maryland is relying more heavily on hospitals and private providers. That means Montgomery County's health department has received a smaller percentage of available vaccines than health departments in the district and Virginia have.

But Hodge and Vigilance say there's nothing stopping residents from crossing state or county lines to get H1N1 vaccines.