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More than 4,300 pregnant women and young children received the swine flu vaccine at the Fairfax County Government Center on Saturday during the county's first mass vaccination effort since the virus, also known as H1N1, surfaced earlier this year.

The county had enough vaccine for up to 12,000 people, but of the approximately 17,000 people who came to the government center only 4,300 were eligible to be vaccinated, according to Fairfax County Health Department spokesman Glen Barbour.

Because of the limited amount of vaccine available, only the highest-risk groups — pregnant women and children 6 months to 36 months — were eligible to receive the vaccine Saturday.

This week, the health department is distributing the remaining vaccine at its five clinic sites around the county and is expanding eligibility to the next level, to also include children up to age 5 and the parents of children younger than 6 months. Children under 6 months cannot receive the vaccine, so the hope is to prevent parents from infecting their infants, Barbour said.

With additional staffing, the clinic sites can each handle up to 250 vaccinations per day, Barbour said. People arriving at the clinic will receive a number. Once the day's numbers run out, vaccine-seekers will be told to return the next day.

This process will continue until all available vaccine is distributed. Barbour said it is not known when the department will receive additional vaccine shipments, but there are three different distribution plans based on the amount of vaccine available at any given time.

"We just hope that it comes sooner rather than later because we want to get it out into the community," Barbour said.