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PARKERSBURG - The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department's H1N1 vaccination clinic on Saturday was opened to the general public after only a small number of people in the target groups attended.

"We feel like we have covered our target groups and can now serve the general public," said Carrie Brainard, flu information coordinator with the MOVHD.

Although the department opened the clinic to the general public on Saturday afternoon, it was still a very slow day with roughly 400 people receiving shots between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Brainard said.

Belpre resident Donald Tennant received a phone call from a friend about the clinic being opened and immediately went to the Dils Center to see what was going on.

"They gave me my shot, so I went back home and got my wife, Lorali, and brought her up to get her shot," he said.

Tennant said it was important for him because both he and his wife have health issues that did not allow them to be included in the priority groups.

"We both figured that the shots will have a reaction that is nowhere near as bad as the actual swine flu, so we decided to get it," he said.

Carla Talbott, of Washington, W.Va., also decided to get the shot Saturday afternoon when she heard the clinic was being opened to the general public.

"Both of my kids - Alan, 4, and Sarah, 12 - have had their shots and I thought I should get it to keep the virus from spreading," Talbott said. "It means a lot to me to be able to get this shot now before it can become a problem for my family."

Because the Saturday clinic was opened to the public, another clinic scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday will also be opened.

"Because that clinic was expected to be for target groups, the clinic on Nov. 24 will be opened," Brainard said.

The department will also hold clinics Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and 2 to allow children who need a second inoculation to receive the vaccine. Children under the age of 9 who received the H1N1 vaccine at school or at another clinic need to attend one of these three clinics to be fully vaccinated from the flu. These clinics will not be open to the public.

The first official H1N1 vaccine clinic for the general public is scheduled for Dec. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All of these clinics will be in the Dils Center with patients asked to use the Market Street entrance.

The department has given more than 8,000 H1N1 vaccinations in more than 35 clinics throughout Wood, Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane and Wirt counties. Roughly 1,100 of those vaccinations were given Nov. 18 at the priority clinic in City Park, Brainard said.

The MOVHD will also hold a seasonal flu vaccination clinic at its Sixth Street office from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday.