Thousands turned out on Monday for H1N1 flu shot clinics across Wake County, depleting the county's supply of the sought-after vaccine. The County Health Department received 9,000 doses of the vaccine last week and urged high risk individuals to get immunized. If turnout is any indication, people seem to be getting the message.

According to Wake County Community Health Director Sue Lynn Ledford, more than 6,000 immunizations were distributed through the five clinic sites.  The remaining vaccine was distributed to local doctor's offices and private clinics.

Many doctor's offices, though, are getting little or no vaccine.  Catherine Piche is due in January with her second child. She came to the clinic at Cary's Colonial Baptist Church because her own doctor hasn't had any vaccine.

"A friend of friends of ours recently passed away from H1N1 leaving two small daughters," she said. "I know that there have been a lot of pregnant women with questions about whether or not it was safe for them or their baby to get it, but to me it feels like the risk of not getting it is much greater."

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Monday that five people have died of complications from H1N1 within the past week; two were pregnant women.

For Cheryl Thaxton and her two children, the vaccine is as much about protecting a family member as themselves.

"We have a family member who has immuno-suppressive medications," she said. "So we need to all be covered."

Ledford expects more vaccine to arrive in Wake County this week, allowing the county to hold more clinics to reach folks at high risk for the flu.  High risk groups include:  

pregnant women
caregivers for children under six months
healthcare and emergency services personnel
children and youth up to age 24
and people between 25 and 64 with underlying health issues 

But state officials don't expect vaccine to be widely available until the beginning of December.   

"We've shipped about one million doses and we expect about five million," said Brandon Rector, who oversees vaccine distribution for the N.C. Department of Public Health.  "So it may be starting to catch up, but there still are a lot of areas where vaccine is hard to come by."