They began to line up inside the Clay County Public Health Center in Liberty just after 2 p.m. — three hours early for an H1N1 vaccination clinic for children.</p><p>By 5 p.m., the line of parents waiting to have their children vaccinated had stretched nearly a quarter of mile to the parking lot of an adjacent hotel.</p><p>Officials worried if 513 doses of the FluMist would be enough. But by the time they finished at 8 p.m., the county had administered just over 350 doses.</p><p>“We figured that we would have more demand than supply,” said Gary Zaborac, the county’s public health director.</p><p>Officials said they wanted to make sure they did not turn away anyone who showed up to have their children vaccinated.</p><p>Clay and Platte counties on Wednesday offered swine flu vaccine to their residents. Platte County has another clinic Friday in Platte City. Independence has a clinic today.</p><p>With supplies limited, the departments are giving vaccine to high-priority groups, including health care workers, pregnant women and children.</p><p>H1N1 vaccine is expected to remain in short supply until next month, officials say.</p><p>Julie Woods of Kansas City, North, said she and her 2-year-old daughter arrived just before 4 p.m. </p><p>“The waiting room was full and they told us that we would have wait in our cars,” Woods said. “I wasn’t going to do that, and I stood right where I was.”</p><p>In Parkville, dozens lined up outside the Platte County Health Center on Wednesday, an hour before the doors opened at 10 a.m. </p><p>Among the clients: 2-year-old Connor McBreen of Kansas City, North, who had little trouble with his first blast of FluMist nasal spray. But a second squirt to finish off the dose? No way.</p><p>Connor shook his head, squirmed and generally fought off the nurses. His father, Sean McBreen, tried to bribe him with the promise of a cookie. No deal. But when Connor lay his head on Dad’s shoulder, a nurse crept up and squirted the rest of the dose up his nose.</p><p>“Good job, good job,” McBreen told his son.</p><p>By 2 p.m. the center had given out 158 of the 1,000 free doses, said Jill Harper, nursing supervisor. </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">AROUND THE NATION</span></strong><br /></p><p><B>Slow start for vaccine …</B></p><p>Health officials initially projected that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine would be ready to dispense nationwide by mid-October. They later reduced their estimate to 45 million. As of Tuesday, only 12.8 million were available.</p><p><B>… but more is on the way</B></p><p>The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses out by mid-November and 150 million in December, a federal health official said Wednesday.</p><p><B>Why the delays?</B></p><p>Health officials blame a variety of reasons, including the pressure on vaccine manufacturers to produce two vaccines — for swine flu and seasonal flu. Also, the process relies on antiquated technology in which the virus is grown in millions of chicken eggs. The swine flu virus reproduces much more slowly in eggs than the seasonal virus.</p><p><B>Meanwhile, the H1N1 virus spreads rapidly is spreading rapidly</B></p><p>Education officials said 198 schools in 15 states were closed Wednesday because of swine flu, with more than 65,000 students affected. That was up from 88 school closings the day before.</p><p><B>| Staff and wire reports</B>