Calling the shots; Hundreds seek H1N1 vaccine at city clinic.

Byline: Aaron Nicodemus

WORCESTER - How crazy was it?

Yesterday's H1N1 flu vaccine clinic drew hundreds of people from as far away as Cambridge and Rhode Island. They all braved the cold and staved off boredom for their chance to receive a precious, hard-to-find swine flu shot or nasal spray.

Some were turned away, even after waiting, because organizers changed the criteria for who was eligible before the clinic began.

The craziness began when the Worcester Senior Center's facility manager arrived at 8 a.m. to find a woman at the building's front entrance on Providence Street. She was carrying a sign that said, "Swine flu line starts here." The clinic was not scheduled to begin for another 8 hours.

At one point, just before the clinic opened ahead of schedule at 3 p.m., a line of people stretched from the center's back door, through the parking lot, and onto the sidewalk on Spurr Street. Between 200 and 300 people were in line. Television cameras from five stations chronicled the action, with a news helicopter hovering overhead.

Nearly everyone in line said they were there out of frustration, because they had tried to obtain a vaccine through their doctors, to no avail.

Gail Buckley of Northbridge waited in line for an hour and 20 minutes to get a flu mist vaccine for herself and her two daughters, 7-year-old Moira and 10-year-old Maeve.

"We hear about kids getting sick in school, I don't know for sure that it's the flu," she said. "We had been asking my doctor about it for a month."

Tryphena Reidy of Littleton and her pregnant sister-in-law, Carly Reidy of Woburn, were at the head of the line with their young children.

Tryphena Reidy said she had been trying to get the H1N1 vaccine for three weeks through her doctor's office. She and her sister-in-law arrived four hours early for the vaccine.

She said her husband heard about Worcester's H1N1 clinic on WBZ radio, and they made sure they got their spot early.

"We're glad we got here when we got here," she said.

Maria Rivera of Worcester said she had also tried, without success, to find the H1N1 vaccine for her three children.

"My sons don't even have the regular flu shot. We can't find that, either," she said. She found a seasonal flu vaccine for her 10-year-old daughter, Natalia Diaz, at a pharmacy.

David Maldonado, 18, said he was getting the vaccine to stay safe.

"My mom, she inspired me," he said with a laugh. "We came early to make sure we got it. She wants us to live forever."

But others were turned away.

Sharon Clark, 66, arrived at the Senior Center at 3:15 p.m. . She had read the city's press release on who would be eligible, and she thought with her COPD and heart condition, she would qualify. Originally, she did.

But health officials were overwhelmed by the demand and changed the criteria of who would receive the vaccine just before the doors opened. Pregnant women, children 6 months to 18 years old, and people caring for infants younger than 6 months would get the vaccines that were available.

"I felt it was wrong," Ms. Clark said. "It said people with underlying health conditions would qualify. Then they changed it. I was told I could not get a shot."

Four Worcester Polytechnic Institute students were also turned away.

"I have asthma, and I don't want to get sick," said 20-year-old Alex Reeves of Houston.

"We all go to school. It spreads really fast," added Chelsea Tuttle, 19. They said the school has promised to hold a vaccine clinic, but cannot say when. All four of them had read that people up to 24 years old would be eligible to get a shot. Health care workers were also supposed to be eligible. But Michelle McGown of Worcester, who works with the elderly, said she was turned away.

"Everywhere I go, I can't get one," she said.

Derek Brindisi, the city's director of Public Health, said the city received more than 300 phone calls before the clinic began, causing officials to change the criteria for who could receive the vaccine and who could not.

"I don't want anyone to be waiting out there for an hour and then be told there's none left," he said just before the clinic began.

The city decided to vaccinate the people most susceptible to getting the disease, he said. "We had a couple of people ask questions," he said. "Once we explained the medical criteria, I think people understood."

In the end, 1,026 people were vaccinated, according to city officials. But the city will wait for another shipment of vaccines before holding another clinic, he said. More will be scheduled, once more vaccine is shipped by the state, he said.

"I'm telling people that there will eventually be a clinic in their neighborhood," he said.

ART: PHOTOS; CHART

CUTLINE: (1) People hoping for the H1N1 vaccine line up Monday outside the Worcester Senior Center. (2) Maeve Buckley, 10, of Northbridge gets the nasal H1N1 vaccine Monday at the Worcester Senior Center. (CHART) Hospitals' swine flu visitation policies

PHOTOG: (PHOTOS) T&G Staff Photos/CHRISTINE PETERSON (CHART) T&G Staff/DON LANDGREN JR.