Posted: Oct. 27, 2009 |(0) Comments

Muskego — Twenty-something mother Cyndi Shekoski with two blond young ones in tow - Carson, 3, and Jaicee, 2 - walked through a virtually deserted hallway on the lower level of the Muskego City Hall where a flu clinic was held Friday morning. She only had to wait a couple of minutes to get a seasonal flu shot offered by Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.

Her experience was typical for the clinic. A small but steady trickle of people flowed through the clinic, leaving the eight chairs in the hallway standing empty and the hallway almost deserted.

The scene at City Hall was a stark contrast from the images seen lately on the nightly news, as hundreds of people have shown up at flu clinics throughout the Milwaukee area to wait in line for vaccinations. Most of the long waits elsewhere were for the vaccines for the H1N1 virus, but not all of them. In Wauwatosa last week, for example, a seasonal flu clinic drew more than 400 people.

"We were hoping for more," Wheaton Franciscan nurse Jill Bemis said shortly after 9 a.m. But she expected all 100 doses of flu vaccine to be given out by the clinic's scheduled closing at noon. She had given 15 as of 9:10 a.m. to those age 18 and up.

Shekoski of New Berlin was one of those 15. Her children had already been vaccinated at their doctor's office. But Shekoski said she had a hard time finding the seasonal flu shot for herself, much less the H1N1 vaccine for her children.

"My doctor's office is out," she said. But she got on the Web and found the clinic at Muskego.

She is continuing to hit the Web searching for H1N1 vaccines, especially for her children.

"I don't want them getting sick," she said, and they are at risk. "They're around too many other little kids."

Later that day, the Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services announced swine flu clinics to be held at the Waukesha Expo Center Tuesday through Thursday.

Everyone received a number at the Muskego clinic and the person holding number one was Laura Mecha, who works at City Hall. She figures she waited maybe 15 minutes before the clinic started a little before its 9 a.m. scheduled opening. She usually does not get a flu shot. The one she got that morning was probably the second or third in her life, she said. But this year is different.

"I don't know how bad the season is going to be," she said, so she decided to play it safe.

Mike Staats of Waukesha always gets a shot. But it was a lot harder to get one this year.

His doctor's office was out of vaccine and referred him to Waukesha County, which referred him to Wheaton Franciscan, he said. Staats, too, waited about 15 minutes.

And he wanted to get the swine flu vaccine, too.

"It's good medical procedure," Staats said.

A retired couple, John and Christine Weidner of Muskego have gotten flu shots in the past but were not vigilant about getting them.

"But now that we are getting older, we are going to get them every year," Christine said. And she, too, will get the H1N1 vaccine, she said.

FYI

For more information on seasonal and swine flu and flu clinics, go to the Waukesha County Health and Human Services Department's Web site www.waukeshacounty.gov/page.aspx?SetupMetaId=20092&id=20960