Hundreds of people lined up for the first day of swine flu vaccinations in Ottawa, but lines got so long that some clinics stopped accepting new patients by mid-afternoon.

The clinic at the Kanata Recreation Complex and the Fred Barrett clinic were the first to stop accepting new patients, but all of the other clinics had followed suit by 5 p.m. local time, as staff tried to deal with existing lines.

Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa’s chief medical officer of health, said city polling numbers indicated there would be a big turnout the first few days of the vaccination campaign.

”We have asked the public to be patient with us,” Levy said. “We’ve anticipated in the first few days there will be delays because there’s only so much staff resources.”

Levy said Ottawa has enough vaccine but the city might have to hire more nurses to staff the 12 roving clinics scheduled to open later this week.

The first round of vaccines is targeting priority groups who are at a greater risk of contracting a severe case of the H1N1 influenza.

Ottawa Public Health is making the vaccine available to:

• People six months old to 65-years-old with chronic medical conditions.
• Healthy children between six months and five years of age.
• Health-care workers.
• Pregnant women.
• Care providers for infants younger than six months and people with compromised immune systems.