Long lineups were forming outside some swine flu vaccine clinics in central Newfoundland Tuesday morning, long before they were scheduled to open.

The rush to get the shot against the H1N1 virus follows the early closure of some clinics in the region on Monday after they ran out of the vaccine shortly after opening.

In Gander, nearly 50 people were lined up at 8 a.m. outside a clinic that doesn't open until 9:30, the CBC's David Zelcer reported. The lineup started at 7, he said.

Monday was the first day the mass immunization clinics opened for the general public in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Demand was so high at some clinics in the central area, such as Grand Falls-Windsor, Springdale and Botwood, that the amount of vaccine on hand was used up fast.

In the community of Buchans, Mayor Derm Corbett said many people waited for hours in a lineup only to be turned away.

"Considering the wait they had, and the fact that some of them got right to the door and, unfortunately, got told that they'd run out, people took it very, very well," he said. "They're prepared to be patient and simply drop down next week."

Clinics are scheduled to open in only three communities in the region Tuesday.

More clinics called for in St. John's

There was also frustration over long lineups outside the only vaccine clinic in St. John's, set up in a church in the east end of the city.

Lisa Carew, who waited 90 minutes outside the church to get her shot, believes there should be more than one clinic in a city the size of St. John's.

"I personally think they should have had at least another location, instead of just one for all of St. John's," she told CBC News. "I don't think there was any need for everybody to stand out in line, out in the cold, for that long."

Some people in the lineup suggested Eastern Health, which is responsible for health in the region, should be using a larger facility, such as an arena, so people aren't standing outside in the cold.