His sons, Elijah, 8, and Alfred, 4, wear medical masks in public, and they were among the first to receive swine flu vaccines at a vaccination clinic hosted by local health departments Thursday at the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena.

"Now that they've received the shots I feel a lot better," Atkinson said. "Everything you see and hear about it is so scary. I've been really anxious."

The clinic, held by the Brown County and De Pere health departments, saw a steady stream of visitors to receive the about 3,000 doses of the vaccine they had on hand.

The vaccines were given free of charge to a targeted group, which includes health-care workers, pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants, children ages 6 months to 4 years and older children with certain medical conditions.

The departments have leftover vaccine and another 3,000 doses for a clinic set for Saturday. The Oneida Tribe of Indians is hosting similar clinics.

"We don't really have an exact count," said Ricki Krautkramer, nurse manager for the Brown County Health Department. "What I will say is turnout was far lower than we expected it to be. We still have plenty of vaccine left, and if people are interested, and they're in the target group, we will definitely be able to serve them on Saturday."

The state is expected to expand the target group Nov. 19 to include people up to the age of 64 who have medical conditions that put them at risk for flu complications, Brown County Health Director Judy Friederichs said.

Friederichs anticipates vaccines will become available to the general public in a few weeks.

She said the departments weren't sure what to expect at Thursday's clinic.

More than 125 workers were on hand, including staff from the public health departments, the Brown County Sheriff's Department, the Lakeland Chapter of the American Red Cross and Ashwaubenon Public Safety. About half were volunteers, Friederichs said.

Visitors said they got in and out in less than half an hour.

"I was surprised, I expected it to be a lot busier," said Josh Bickhart of Green Bay said. His sons Brady, 6, and Logan, 4, received the vaccines. "Everything went very well. They didn't cry."

Melissa Nuthals brought her infant daughter Sophia to be vaccinated.

"It's very concerning," she said.

Betsy Omeara of De Pere said her 6-year-old daughter, Lughsonna, had a scare with the flu last spring so she wanted her children vaccinated.

The vaccines, administered as a nasal spray or shot, are provided by the federal government at no cost. Local health agencies and organizations place orders with the state, which receives the vaccine from the federal government as it becomes available. It has taken longer than anticipated to manufacture and receive the vaccines, leading local health departments to cancel previously scheduled school clinics.

The vaccines also are available free of charge at private clinics, although they may charge a fee to administer them.

It takes 10-14 days for people to become immune once they are vaccinated, Friederichs emphasized.

Since Sept. 1, there have been 288 hospitalizations in the state because of swine flu complications, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Most of the people hospitalized had underlying medical conditions. In the last week, there have been four additional confirmed swine flu-related deaths reported in Dodge, Grant, Ozaukee and St. Croix counties, bringing the statewide death total to 20 since spring, according to the department.

Friederichs encouraged people to remain calm about the swine flu spread.

"When you're dealing with a communicable disease there's a balance between apathy and panic," she said. "People should be educated and learn as much as you can about it.