Tetzloff said there was an "adequate amount" of vaccine for the Saturday clinic, but declined to give the specific number of doses available.

The department still plans to hold free, community-based clinics at public schools, but Tetzloff said that the soonest those could occur would be sometime in December. However, she said that the department is ordering vaccine a weekly basis, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will expand the high-risk group to include adults 18 to 64 years with chronic health conditions beginning Thursday.

Hoping to avoid the kind of misery and lost work endured by a friend whose entire family was stricken with H1N1, Kathy Beduhn waited for close to an hour to make sure her 21/2-year-old son, Malise, got vaccinated.

"I figure two hours of missed work is better than a whole week if he got sick," Beduhn said.

Inside the conference room, a nurse from the American Red Cross, a paramedic and a nursing student unwrapped syringes and drew vaccines while health professionals administered the shots.

Wails and screams emanated from every corner of the conference room as dozens of toddlers -- kicking and squirming -- received their shots. For most, the promise of stickers, Goldfish crackers and juice was not enough to ease the temporary trauma. Taylen Kowalski, 4, of Stevens Point, shrieked when she received her shot, but her mother, Tonya Kowalski, said getting her daughter vaccinated was important, despite the discomfort.