Several thousand people are expected to attend Indianapolis’ first public H1N1 flu-vaccine clinic Thursday.

The Marion County Health Department will hold the clinic from 8 a.m. to noon inside the former Steve&Barry’s store at Lafayette Square Mall, 3919 Lafayette Road.

Health Department officials said they anticipate vaccinating from 2,500 to 3,000 people at the Northwestside site. People not in a high risk group or those who have flu-like symptoms are asked not to come to the clinic.

The Marion County Health Department has a hotline at (317) 221-3366 for more information.

On Saturday, six HealthNet sites also will offer vaccination clinics for both seasonal and H1N1 flu shots from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.indyhealthnet.org.

State has 240,800 doses

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shipped 240,800 doses of the H1N1 vaccine to Indiana as of Oct. 14.

Only three other states — California, Florida, and Virginia — have received more doses. Indiana State Department of Health officials expect to receive about 4 million doses by the end of the flu season.

Marion County has received just more than 32,000 doses of the vaccine.

Marion County Health Department officials estimate about 458,000 residents fall into one of several high-risk priority groups: pregnant women; children ages six months to 24 years old; caregivers of infants younger than six months; health-care workers; and people age 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions or who have weakened immune systems.

In Marion County, health officials have distributed doses to private providers who treat women and children and also are hosting clinics for the public. Hospitals and area fire departments have also received vaccine for their personnel. Health Department officials have asked that the general public allow those in the high-risk groups to get the vaccine first.

What suburbs are doing

Elsewhere around the Indianapolis metro area:

Boone County: The county Health Department has received what it describes as a limited amount of the H1N1 nasal spray vaccine over the past 10 days — not enough to schedule any community clinics. Doses will first go to emergency and health-care workers. Officials are unsure when more vaccine might arrive.

Hamilton County: The Health Department has received about 7,000 doses of both the spray and shots, but health officials say they also are holding off on scheduling any public clinics countywide until more vaccine arrives. It’s still uncertain when that might occur.

Some Hamilton County school districts have begun scheduling their own flu clinics, including one scheduled at Noblesville High School on Saturday. Hamilton Southeastern Schools have sent home permission slips to allow students to be vaccinated. School officials say they hope to vaccinate as many as 20,000 people, including 18,000 students, in early November.

For more information, county health officials recommend calling the Indiana State Department of Health hotline: 1 (877) 826-0011.

Hancock County: Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield is offering the H1N1 flu mist vaccine free of charge at clinics that began Wednesday at the Hancock Wellness Center, 888 West New Road, Greenfield. More clinics are scheduled for Friday, Monday and Oct. 31.

Flu-shot recipients are being limited to people in the following groups: household caregivers of children younger than 6 months; children from 2 years old up to school age; young adults from 18-24 and others from 25-49 at higher risk for influenza; and health-care and emergency services personnel. More information is available at (317) 477-6358.

Hendricks County: About 1,000 injectable doses of H1N1 vaccine are being administered to the health-care workers at Hendricks Regional Health and Clarian West hospitals.

According to the Hendricks County Health Department, another shipment of vaccine is expected soon and will be distributed through doctor’s offices specializing in the treatment of women and children; that shipment of vaccine is aimed at higher-risk groups.

Health officials estimated another shipment is expected in the county within a month to six weeks. Officials say when more information is available, it will be posted on the county’s Web site: www.co.hendricks.in.us.

Johnson County: Health officials are eyeing a date late next week to open the county’s first public clinic for H1N1 flu vaccinations at the county fairgrounds, 80 S. Jackson St., in Franklin.

Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that another shipment of the vaccine will arrive by the middle of next week. The county has received about 5,000 doses, most of which are nasal mist. Officials hope for more vaccine next week. For more information, call (317) 346-4365.