Salt Lake County residents can book H1N1 swine flu shots

Starting Tuesday, Salt Lake County residents who qualify for H1N1 swine flu vaccine can make appointments to be inoculated -- avoiding the long lines others have been enduring.

With vaccine in short supply for now, many Utahns around the Wasatch Front have been standing outside local health departments in cold weather. The Salt Lake Valley Health Department is expecting a new shipment of vaccine to arrive Tuesday.

"We are excited to announce this shift in how we offer H1N1 vaccine in Salt Lake County," the department's director, Gary Edwards, said in a statement. "We anticipate appointments will better serve those at highest risk and help to avoid the long lines seen at previous clinics."

Other local health departments had adopted the appointment strategy by last week. The change was complicated for the Salt Lake Valley department because it handles a larger volume of residents, said spokeswoman Pam Davenport.

Now, residents can book an appointment over the phone or on the Web.

» On Tuesday at 9 a.m., a link to the Web appointment system, Appointment-Plus, will be posted at the department's homepage, http://www.slvhealth.org/.

» The department's appointment hotline will open at 801-743-7280. A bank of staffers will accept calls from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until all time slots have been reserved.

Those who get an appointment will be given a

30-minute time slot and clinic location. Vaccinations will be offered Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at four clinics, which will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A week ago, the Weber-Morgan Health Department implemented a similar system for giving out its stash of vaccine. Spokeswoman Lori Buttars said it has helped save people from an hours-long wait.

"They come, they get their shot, they go. We don't have them standing and waiting [in line]," she said.

Every Monday, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., Weber-Morgan residents can call 801-399-7288 and make an appointment for that week. They go fast: This week's supply of vaccine was spoken for within that 60-minute window, with 1,400 appointments scheduled, Buttars said.

"We hope they'll take solace in that we're not having them camp out overnight," she said.

The Davis County Health Department, meanwhile, is refining its ticket-based system. On Tuesday tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis at its mass vaccination clinic at the Davis Conference Center from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. About half of the tickets were given out Monday night.

Each ticket represents one dose of vaccine. This time around, however, the tickets have an assigned one-hour time block. Those who get one are being asked to show up no earlier than 15 minutes before their designated hour.

Davis County officials hope that assigning times will help reduce traffic and parking congestion, as well as actual wait times during the clinic.

At Salt Lake County's clinics this week, Davenport said, patients will be screened to make sure they meet the department's current eligibility guidelines:

» Pregnant women.

» Those who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age.

» Health care or emergency medical personnel with direct patient contact.

» People age 6 months to 24 years of age.

» Those under the age of 64 with chronic medical conditions associated with higher risk of medical problems from influenza.

The vaccine is provided at no out-of-pocket cost, but residents with health insurance are encouraged to bring their card.