New figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 98,000 have been hospitlized in the United States due to the H1N1 virus, and that includes many people in Texoma.

After months of preparation and several delays more H1N1 vaccine is on its way to Texoma. Even with fewer new patients reporting flu-like symptoms here, health officials say the threat is not over. The Wichita Falls/Wichita County Public Health District said it has ordered 1,450 doses of the H1N1 vaccine but that it's not available to everyone.

Lou Franklin, Director of the Wichita Falls/Wichita County Public Health District said the outbreak could surge again. "Influenza comes in waves and it's cyclic. So, people need to go ahead and get vaccinated especially those priority groups who are at the highest risk and also pregnant women are included in the priority groups and vaccine really is important," Franklin said. 

Franklin said the health department is ordering more of the new doses of the vaccine and is planning a free mass vaccination clinic on December 5th at the MPEC. It will be held from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The vaccination clinic will not be not open to everyone; these doses are going to priority groups including:

- Pregnant women and caregivers of infants younger than six months.

- Children and adults ages six months through 24 years old.

- Other adults who have high-risk conditions.

The health department first planned on having a public vaccination clinic in mid-October before it was pushed back to early Novemeber. The upcoming clinic should treat over a thousand, but many others not included in the priority groups will have to wait in line.

"As we continue to get more vaccine in the community and we feel that we have an adequate amount and we have adequately vaccinated those priority groups, then we will open it up to anyone who would like the vaccine," Franklin said. Some have voiced fears of the vaccine for a variety of reason, Franklin said. Those fears are unfounded and she recommends that everyone get vaccinated as soon as possible. "The risk that people take by not getting vaccinated and thinking they have a good immune system and that they can fight it off on their own is that sometimes when they get ill they get an underlying infection with that," said Franklin. "While the flu may not be as severe the underlying infection you can get with the influenza can be quite serious."

Earlier this month Wichita Falls received nearly $250,000 in state funding for H1N1 preparations. Officials said the money will be used to help pay for the upcoming vaccination clinic.

For more information on the upcoming clinic visit health.cwftx.net or call (940) 761-7800.