The need for protection against the H1N1 virus has never been stronger. State health officials confirm five more people have died from the disease and the number of people infected has now jumped to more than 1,200.

Meanwhile, it's invitation-only at the Expo building on the W.H. Lyon fairgrounds Thursday night where health officials are hoping to reach children and day care providers who could possibly expose hundreds of others at large day cares in Sioux Falls and Brandon.

Doors opened at 3 p.m. and a steady stream of people patiently made their way in. With paperwork in hand, these parents and their children didn't want to take any chances getting turned away.

"We're checking paperwork right at the front door cause you know we don't want someone to get all the way in and have an incident in the middle where it just wouldn't be a good idea," Minnehaha County Emergency Management Director Lynn DeYoung said.

He contacted a few select day cares in Sioux Falls and Brandon and parents were notified.

With 2,000 doses available, DeYoung says they've prepared to give every last one away.

"We are being basically told what our allocation is several days ahead of time and then we make the decision on who's being invited. But we can't move to the other tier groups until we have these first tiers taken care of," DeYoung said.

Vaccines were given to kids 6-months to 4-years-old and caregivers of infants 6-months and younger.

But what about those kids who weren't invited?

"You know, I have two children at home that could be here today but they're not because they don't qualify.  They're not in a large day care. The reasons we chose the large day care is because if you get one small child sick into a big day care, then you have many kids sick," DeYoung said. 

And that, DeYoung says has the potential to drain resources in a community.

Other clinics will be held as more vaccine becomes available. When that will happen is right now unknown. The state department of health hopes more clinics like this will take place in mid-November.