DENVER -- “Finally!”

That was the reaction, Wednesday, of parents to the first public clinic offering the H1N1 vaccine along the Front Range.

The Larimer County Health Department administered 2,400 doses of vaccine to high risk individuals who had pre-registered for the clinic at The Ranch, Larimer County Fairgrounds.

“It’s been a little scary hearing about the deaths of little children,” said Rhoda James, a parent who brought two of her children in for H1N1 shots.

When asked how she felt now that her children were protected, James responded, “I have some peace knowing that they are protected. I have one less thing I have to worry about.”

Another parent, Denise Dicks, told 7NEWS, “We can be one of the ‘well ones’ that won’t be passing the virus on to someone else. That feels better.”

Larimer County Health Director Adrienne LeBailly said they decided to have people pre-register for the clinic to insure that those receiving the vaccine were part of a high risk group and to insure that they didn’t have more people showing up for the clinic than they had vaccine.

“We don’t want them to come early and wait in line,” LeBailly said. “We’re trying to spread people out so there aren’t a bunch of them together during a pandemic.”

The metro area’s largest health department, Tri-County, will host its first three clinics on Thursday.

Those clinics will be held at:

Byers School District, 444 East Front Street, Byers, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Bennett Middle School, 455 8th Street, Bennett, 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Thornton Middle School, 9451 Hoffman Way, Thornton, 4:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Dr. Richard Vogt, executive director of the Tri-County Health Department told 7NEWS that there will be about 2,000 doses at each clinic.

“These are not the only clinics, these are just the first,” Vogt said. “There will be others.”

When asked if people need to bring proof of residency or a note from a doctor indicating they are part of the high risk group, Vogt said, “We’re not asking people to bring a note from a doctor. We hope they honor the system that’s been set up to vaccinate high risk individuals first.”

Vogt did say they may ask to see a driver’s license or some other proof that the individual lives in Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert or Broomfield Counties.

Elbert and Broomfield Counties are not part of the Tri-County Health Department, but have made special arrangements with the department to provide H1N1 vaccine.

Denver Public Health will host two H1N1 clinics on Nov. 8, and again on Nov. 21.

Those Clinics will be held at:

The Eastside Family Health Center, 28th & Welton Streets, Denver, 8 a.m.

The Westside Family Health Center, W. 11th Ave. & Federal Blvd., Denver, 8 a.m.

Denver Health officials say they only have a limited supply of vaccine and will administer it to high risk individuals beginning at 8am until the supply is exhausted.

“We’ll have staff out keeping track of the number of people who show up, so we don’t have people waiting in line only to find out we’ve run out of vaccine,” said Dee Martinez of Denver Health.

The Jefferson County Health Department has already provided 25,000 doses of vaccine to private healthcare and daycare clinics.

Health officials there plan to host their first public clinics November 21 at:

Alameda High School, 1255 S. Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Arvada High School, 7951 W65th Ave., Arvada, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Chatfield High School, 7227 S. Simms St., Littleton, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Evergreen High School, 29300 Buffalo Park Rd., Evergreen, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

West Jefferson Middle School, 9449 S. Barnes Ave., Conifer, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Health officials say they are targeting high risk individuals at these first clinics.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, high risk individuals include pregnant women, parents or caretakers of children under 6 months old, children 6 months – 24 years old, people 25 – 64 with underlying medical conditions and healthcare and emergency workers.

The healthcare and emergency workers may have to show their employee badge when they sign up for the vaccine.