A sign at the entrance to Toronto's Metro Hall tells visitors that the city is no longer handing out tickets for access to the H1N1 vaccination clinic on Friday afternoon. (Robin Rowland/CBC) The H1N1 clinic at Toronto's Metro Hall had to turn away latecomers shortly before its advertised closing time because it reached capacity early.
But many of those who waited in line described a shorter, more orderly wait than clinics have exprienced in recent days.
This was due largely to a new system in which the clinic gave out slips of paper to the more than 1,000 people who lined up.
The slips specified what time people would receive their swine flu shots, and people were able to leave the line and return later.
It was a different scene on Thursday, when weary people waited in line for hours at clinics in North York and East York. Eventually, health officials said they couldn't handle the numbers. Both clinics stopped accepting new arrivals soon after officially opening.
The shots are meant to inoculate people against the strain of H1N1 influenza A virus responsible for the current swine flu pandemic.
Toronto Public Health officials had hoped to inoculate 300 people an hour during the seven-hour clinic Friday, for a total of 2,100 people at Metro Hall, which closed shortly before 4 p.m.
Residents were warned by Toronto Public Health on Thursday that if they want to get flu shots, they need to arrive early at clinics.
More than three hours before nurses could give the first injection, scores of people were queuing outside and in the hallways of Metro Hall.
The first person in line arrived at 4:30 a.m. ET.
More than 150 people were already in line by 7 a.m. for the clinic scheduled to open at 10 a.m., CBC News reporter Victoria Foley said.
"They've brought chairs, bags of snacks, books and toys for the kids," she said.
Kendall Medill arrived at about 5:30 a.m.
"We just thought it would be a good idea," said Medill, who brought her daughter for a shot. "We could see the lineup from our building, so we decided to come early and get it done.
"I think it's just going to give us a bit more peace of mind, just knowing that she's been vaccinated and we've been vaccinated."
Elliot Ellison was waiting patiently in line with his infant daughter, Samantha.
"She's actually too young for the vaccination — she's four months — so we have to get vaccinated," Ellison said. "It came out yesterday, the new high-risk category, people who live with infants under six months."
Couldn't handle the numbers
A woman with a baby stroller clutches two tickets that permit admission to the H1N1 flu clinic at Toronto's Metro Hall on Friday morning. (Robin Rowland/CBC)The city set up two clinics on Friday: at Metro Hall and at the Scarborough Civic Centre, where the scene is similar to the one downtown.
In Scarborough, hundreds are standing in line — but without any protection from the elements. As a steady rain fell, people were cold, wet, miserable and asking why they were being forced to wait outside.
The groups public health officials want to reach first are pregnant women, children aged six months to five years, health-care workers and people under 65 with chronic health conditions.
Those are the groups that medical officials say are most vulnerable to the H1N1 virus.
Ten clinics for will open across the city on Monday. They were originally to accept the general public, but the province's chief medical officer said Friday afternoon a shortage of the vaccine meant the clinics would continue to target priority groups only and healthy adults would be turned away.
A link to all Ontario H1N1 flu clinics is provided at the top right-hand side of this page.
