The first batch of H1N1 vaccines has arrived in North Carolina, and Duke Health System wasted no time in getting that vaccine out to the public.

The agency only received 1,800 doses, which was not even close to what it was expecting.

"It was a small allotment, less than 1 percent of what we were promised over the next several months," said Dr. Ian Greenwald, Duke's chief medical officer for preparedness.

But as soon it arrived, Duke Health System divided the doses between all of its facilities and began immediate distribution.

Sarah Kaufman brought her son to Duke's Urgent Care facility on Fayetteville Street in Durham to get him vaccinated as soon as she heard doses were available.

"I spent two hours this morning on the phone with his pediatrician trying to make an appointment for him, and then saw on their Web page it was here," she said. "I called for an appointment and they said they could do it as soon as I could get here.

In some locales, the first doses went to health care workers, but that's not what's happening in the Duke system.

"Health care workers are not the ideal sub group to receive that vaccine," Greenwald explained.

"This vaccine is ideal for kids between the age of 2 to 4 or others under age 24 that have mild, chronic illness," Greenwald pointed out.

The vaccines arrived at a time when H1N1 is already well established in North Carolina.

"That puts us in a group of several other states that also have widespread activity," Greenwald said.

That is a major reason why John Fred jumped at the chance to immunize his 2-year-old daughter Juliana.

"She's in daycare all the time and my wife is 33 weeks pregnant," he said. "So with a baby on the way, and her being in ‘disease central,' we figured we should get her started on it."