ST. IGNATIUS - It was déjà vu all over again for Nissa Fennell, save for one thing.

This time her children received the H1N1 vaccine.

"I've already stood in this line before, just to go home three hours later with nothing," Fennell said as she waited outside the St. Ignatius Fitness Center on Wednesday for the biggest-yet clinic in Lake County and on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The last time, Fennell had taken 6-year-old Krysa Fennell and 1-year-old Dante Ascencio to Missoula.

"I got there an hour and a half early, stood in line for three hours and was still only halfway to the front door," Fennell said of her first try to get her children vaccinated, on Oct. 22. "It was raining and freezing and the kids were wet and cold, so I gave up."

She was early enough Wednesday to be second in line - Ashley McDanal and her three children arrived two hours before the clinic opened and were first - and this time parents and kids had a bright blue Montana sky and unseasonably warm temperatures to keep them company outside during the afternoon. While McDanal's daughters, 6-year-old Ahjasa Pierre and 3-year-old Kiera Pierre, played in the sun, her 1-year-old son, Jorge Callejas, snoozed soundly in his stroller.

The line grew probably 100 deep down the sidewalk outside the fitness center as the 3 p.m. start approached, but everyone was inside the building, although not yet vaccinated, in less than 10 minutes.

There, in the gymnasium, workers from the Lake County Health Department and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Health Department had folding chairs set up to guide folks around the gym floor and give them places to sit as they filled out forms.

They passed underneath images painted on the walls of revered tribal members such as Kae Kae She, Agnes Woodcocks Incashola, Eneas Big Knife and Marvin Camel, filling out paperwork en route to a room at the rear of the gym where vaccinations were delivered, both via nasal spray and injections.

With multiple children to fill out paperwork for, McDanal and Fennell were first in line but 7-month-old Joseph Brasch of Polson beat them to the back room and got the first injection.

The little boy fussed a bit as a nurse administered it, but was all smiles just seconds later.

Like every place in America, Lake County has been doling out its doses of the vaccine as they come in, to as wide a population as it can, while making sure those most at risk come first.

Barb Plouffe, CSKT Community Health Division manager, says the first to receive it were health care providers, including dental staffs and ambulance crews.

A weekly clinic in Polson initially made vaccines available to pregnant women and children with chronic medical conditions. Last week it expanded to include healthy 2-4 year-olds.

"It's constantly varying," said Jami Lynch, public health nurse with the Lake County Health Department. "The amount we're given determines who we can give it to."

Plouffe said a "spur-of-the-moment clinic" for young children in Ronan last week drew 120 youngsters "just on word of mouth."

Wednesday's well-publicized clinic offered the H1N1 vaccine to its widest audience yet - children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years, caregivers of children under the age of 6 months, pregnant women who have a doctor's permission and those with immune suppressed issues.

A similar clinic is Thursday from 3-6 p.m. at the Arlee Fitness Center.

Fennell said she is worried that, with many hours already invested getting her children the vaccination, that the necessary booster shots for those under the age of 10 might not be available in the next month, when they have to be given.

"They're saying not to hold back the vaccine," Plouffe said, "that there will be enough to cover booster doses. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Reporter Vince Devlin can be reached at (406) 319-2117 or at vdevlin@missoulian.com.