Province announces more H1N1 clinic closures
Published Monday November 2nd, 2009
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick health officials announced a number of clinic closures for the next several days as the province continues to throttle back on its pandemic flu program following unforeseen shortages in vaccine.
Closures were announced throughout southeastern New Brunswick as well as a clinic that was supposed to be held in Rothesay today and one in Caraquet.
"These specific clinics will be rescheduled as vaccine shipments arrive," public health officials said in a news release on Sunday.
"Front-line health-care staff at the clinics may also need to make on-site decisions about clinic closures, based on vaccine availability."
The clinics that are proceeding this week are only for the following groups: front-line health-care workers; children aged six months to 18 years; parents of children under six months old; pregnant women - 20 weeks or more; pregnant women - fewer than 20 weeks and with underlying medical conditions; and First Nations individuals living on reserves.
"This restriction is in place to ensure that the highest priority groups are vaccinated soonest," Dr. Eilish Cleary, chief medical officer of health, said in a news release.
People with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease, are being asked to wait a bit longer.
Cleary said a plan of action is still being developed for those priority groups.
"There will be targeted approaches in the coming weeks to reach those with chronic medical conditions," she said. "The Department of Health is working with provincial chronic-disease specialists to develop opportunities for these groups."
Cleary promised that clinics for the general public will open as soon as possible, and will be continuing through November and December.
"Each and every resident of New Brunswick wishing to receive the vaccine will have the opportunity to do so," she said.
People are asked to check the government website at www.gnb.ca/flu.or call 1-800-580-0038 to get the latest clinic times and locations. Newspapers are being asked not to print lists of clinics, since they are changing so rapidly.
The Horizon Health Network is also advising that it will be offering flu assessment centres beginning today at the St. Joseph's Community Health Centre in Saint John and at the Charlotte County Hospital. The centres are for people feeling ill - no vaccine will be offered.
Meanwhile, Canada's top doctor says health officials didn't expect so many people to line up for the swine flu shot.
Dr. David Butler-Jones, the chief public health officer, told CTV's Question Period that as recently as three weeks ago officials didn't foresee the long lineups that have choked clinics giving out the H1N1 flu vaccine.
"Three or four weeks ago, what we could not anticipate was the number of people that are interested," he said.
Thousands of Canadians have been vaccinated since Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq approved the H1N1 vaccine in late October - after other countries had already begun vaccinations.
More than 80,000 have been vaccinated so far in New Brunswick.
But there have been long lineups, confusion and frustration across the country as people rush to get the vaccine and some are turned away.
The swelling crowds at vaccination clinics are in stark contrast with earlier polls that showed few Canadians planned to get the swine-flu shot.
But that was before the recent deaths of three Ontario children who caught H1N1 - with another death still unconfirmed - put a human face on the virus and galvanized worried Canadians to get themselves and their families vaccinated.
On Sunday, health officials in central Newfoundland said a 36-year-old woman with an underlying medical condition had died from "complications of an H1N1 infection."
Clinics are coping with a shortage of vaccine from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The drug maker will only be able to produce about 400,000 doses of the vaccine this week instead of the million or so doses that officials expected.
- with files from The Canadian Press
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Cleary said a plan of action is still being developed for those priority groups. " = We really don't have a plan or how to effectively manage the vaccination clinics.
" Cleary promised that clinics for the general public will open as soon as possible, and will be continuing through November and December. " --> Well according to the vaccination schedule on gnb.ca/flu the General Public vaccinations begin on Nov. 12.
The experiences of the early clinics should have been a clear indicator that a higher number of New Brunswickers wanted to get vaccinated. All the province had to do would have been to stick to the target groups and the children, pregnant women etc. would already have their shot.
Vaccine wait times cut sharply - for some in ontario.
After days of long lineups at clinics offering the H1N1 vaccine, it
was a very different story Sunday at some doctors' offices as those
who snagged a supply of the vaccine began giving their patients the
jab.
The health agency plans to deliver 100,000 doses of the vaccine to
doctors' offices in a bid to reduce lineups at public health
clinics. As of Saturday, 110 physicians' offices had received
shipments.
Westway Medical Clinic, on Kipling Ave. in Etobicoke received a
package of 500 vaccines from public health-
Clinic doctors organized three days of
inoculations starting Friday and ending Sunday for high risk groups , but will provide more for their patients, depending on how many vaccine doses are left over.