RENO, NV - Local health district officials are being forced to address a rather touchy issue.

The recent swine flu clinics have some people asking how health coordinators are verifying who gets the early, high-risk doses of the H1N1 vaccine. More specifically, concerned locals are wondering whether those who get the shot are legal citizens.

Currently, the high-risk doses of the H1N1 vaccine are reserved for sick people, pregnant women, health care workers, and young children--beyond that, there are no questions are asked.

Tuesday's swine vaccine clinic was packed with people, hoping to be one of the 900 early birds chosen for the vaccine. Unfortunately, some of them didn't qualify.

"I'm sorry, you just don't fit the high-risk criteria right now, but we would love to have you come back," said Judy Davis, explaining to one woman why she was being turned away Tuesday.

But health officials say nationality had nothing to do with it.

"We're not verifying citizenship or anything like that. It would get in the way of keeping people well," said Davis.

Health district employees say they're only verifying people's age, and whether or not they're high-risk. Other than that, the tax-payer supported clinic is for everyone.

At a tea party rally in Carson City Wednesday, this question was posed to us: "Why are we taking care of the illegals?"

President of the Carson City Republican Women, Janice Baldwin says while protecting our community from the H1N1 virus is important, we should be taking care of U.S. residents first.

"Let's give those shots to people here legally, people who need them. Why should we give them more free things?" asked Baldwin.

"We gotta worry about our own people for a change, the citizens, the legal residents. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with citizenship," said John Wagner, State Chairman of the Independent American Party.

Health District officials say it's their responsibility to keep everyone in the community healthy, which is why they plan to offer the vaccine to anyone who wants it--whether they're a citizen or not.

"Viruses do not recognize ethnic, financial or any kind of racial barriers. They infect anybody they come in contact with," said Davis.

Some people are also wondering how the free H1N1 vaccine clinics are funded. Health District officials say the vaccines themselves are provided to our state, 'free', by the U.S. government. The paid staff who administer the vaccines are covered by federal grant money.

According to the Associated Press, the federal government and public health officials are also encouraging the estimated 12-million illegal immigrants in our country to get the swine flu vaccine, which is free of charge.