Nov 17, 2009 1:18 pm US/Pacific
Going Undercover In The Swine Flu Vaccine Line
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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You can find people lining up for swine flu vaccine all over the country. But is everyone standing in line legit?
CBS
You can find people standing on line for a swine flu or H1N1 shot any place you look. But are all the people standing on line legit? David Goldstein investigates.
From kicking people off the line who officials say don't qualify because they're not young enough or old enough...
"She got pregnant. Pregnant in line."
To a woman who they believed was faking her pregnancy in order to qualify to get vaccinated.
In any language this is the swine line.
"You don't qualify," one person is told.
With an undercover camera, we take you on an inside look at what it's like to try and get a swine-flu shot.
As infants and adults wait for hours and sometimes days.
As one person explained, "I got my family in there for three hours."
In Monterey Park, people are asked to follow the yellow tape, but somewhere in this crowd is an opportunist.
"A guy was trying to sell his spot in line. Sell his spot in line!," a police officer said.
Police have cracked down on people selling spots. But we found this ad on Craig's List. With someone offering to hold up to 10 spots for cash -- $60 per adult, $20 per child.
Considering all the long lines and thousands of people who have been vaccinated, county officials say there have been very few problems. One reason could be the extra large presence of sheriff's deputies.
Officials are seen over and over lifting the yellow tape to kick people out of the line who really shouldn't be there. But even if you are on line, there's no guarantee there's enough serum.
"Do you think you will run out of vaccine?"
On this day, they didn't run out. But there was confusion as this firefighter stops the line believing there was no more vaccine left.
People were told, "we are out of serum."
"No we are not," the crowd is then told, "I just checked. Come on in."
He immediately opens the line up again, allowing people to get in place and wait... And hopefully, not get kicked off.
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