(CBS) A chance to get the hard-to-find H1N1 vaccine produced a polite stampeded of parents - and not too happy children - in Fairfax County Saturday morning.
"Oh yeah, it's definitely hard to get," said a man waiting in line. "This is the only place you can find it right now."
Whole families skipped Saturday morning cartoons and braved the rain - and the line - to snap up 12,000 doses of the drug, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.
"He has the shot and i feel a lot better. That's why I waited in line for five hours," said one woman with her son.
Many clinics, like the one in Fairfax County, limited their supply to those most at risk - babies, young children and pregnant women. But the virus is not so selective.
The Centers for Disease Control says H1N1 has spread to 46 states. More than 1,000 Americans have died, and more than 20,000 have been hospitalized.
Experts say it will likely spread further. So, much like a disaster declaration before a hurricane, the president declared the swine flu a national emergency. The White House says it's not meant to scare anyone. It simply loosens some of the bureaucratic red tape to make it easier for hospitals to get what they need, should the epidemic get worse.
And health officials have now given doctors easier access to a new weapon against H1N1, an experimental drug called Peramivir, made by Biocryst Pharmaceuticals.
"It's highly potent on the H1N1 virus," said Jon Stonehouse, the President and CEO of Biocryst. "There are lab tests conducted by the CDC that show it's the most potent inhibitor of the H1N1 virus."
But the drug hasn't gone through all the necessary and time-consuming FDA trials yet. So the FDA issued an emergency authorization to allow doctors to give the drug to the most seriously ill - those who aren't able to swallow antivirals Tamiflu or benefit from Relenza, which is usually inhaled. Peramivir, also an antiviral, is given intravenously.
CBS News found eight patients who were deathly ill, but survived after being given the drug as a last resort, like Jon Boudrot, 51.
"I am a lucky son-of-a-gun to be here," Boudrot said. "No question about it."
Delays in producing H1N1 vaccine mean some of the children getting the shot today may have trouble getting the second dose recommended for children under 9 years old.
