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PARKERSBURG - Thousands lined up in the rain around the block at the Dils Center on Market Street Friday afternoon, hoping to get one of the H1N1 flu vaccinations targeted by the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department for pregnant women and small children.

The clinic was focused on providing shots to pregnant women and children ages 6 months to 4 years.

Jessica Barrett of Parkersburg was standing in line on Market Street Friday before the clinic opened at 2 p.m. to get a shot for her 1-year-old son and 2-year-old nephew.

Barrett got in line about noon Friday for the shots provided by the MOVHD because of her own interest and because of a doctor recommendation that the children receive the vaccination. She and her family usually get their seasonal flu shots at their doctor's office and Friday was the first time she went to one of the health department clinics.

Barrett didn't agree with some of the concerns raised about the new vaccine, which is being used for the first time.

"I did enough research on it and talked to the doctor's office" before deciding to go forward with the shots, Barrett said.

Doug and Andrea Florence of Parkersburg were among the first to get the vaccinations soon after the clinic opened Friday.

Doug Florence said the couple brought their 4-year and 2-year-old children. He said the process went smoothly for them.

"They just took a short health history and gave them the mist vaccine," he said.

Florence also was among those for whom a seasonal flu shot was a tradition, but recommends parents do their own research and decide whether to get the new flu shots.

Joe Spader of Parkersburg brought his 9-month-old daughter, Anna, to the Dils Center for a shot Friday with the help of his sister, Kris.

"I've had my own (seasonal) flu shots before, but I wanted to make sure that she was going to be safe before any of the family contracted the H1N1 virus," Spader said of his daughter.

MOVHD executive director Richard Wittberg said the health department had about 800 doses from the state of West Virginia to give out at Friday's clinic, which included a mixture of vaccination types.

He said the number of people who might be served Friday depended on how much was being given out in pediatric doses and how much was being given out in adult doses for the pregnant women attending the clinic.

"It's a really mixed bag. We have three different kinds of vaccine that we're giving," he said Friday afternoon, soon after the clinic started.

Wittberg said there was a balancing act involved so the supplies of shots and nasal sprays stayed about even during the clinic so they wouldn't reach a point where some segment might have to be turned away because their type of vaccination had run out.

"The pregnant women are the segment of the population I am most concerned with. These young children are also very much at risk so I'm glad to be able to do something for them, too," he said.

The health department is planning another clinic on Nov. 7 with the hours and location to be determined at a later date, Wittberg said. The health department has to wait and see what types and how much vaccine will be available to the MOVHD when that date arrives.

The health department had originally planned to hold Friday's clinic at its office on Sixth Street, but the growing lines through the morning and early afternoon caused everything to be moved across the street to the Dils Center on short notice, he said.

"The turnout was great and it shows how people understand the importance of this vaccine," said .

Ibrahim said Friday's clinic, originally scheduled to end at 6 p.m., was extended for an hour to accommodate as many people as could be handled. By the end of the vaccinations, the health department ran out of the pediatric vaccine for children under age 2 but was able to accommodate the children in the other age brackets.

The clinic was able to inoculate all of the pregnant women, with some of that vaccine leftover, he said.