Albertans may be forced to wait longer for revised H1N1 plan
Jodie Sinnema, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Monday, November 02, 2009
EDMONTON - Albertans may have to wait one more day to hear how the province will overhaul its H1N1 vaccination strategy to ensure patients most at risk of serious illness get the shots first.
John Tuckwell, spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness, said health officials are still ironing out the details of the revised plan and couldn't promise the new plan will be made public today, as previously reported.
He said officials want to make sure the plan is solid, so the public knows exactly what to do to get protection.
The province stopped vaccinated people Saturday afternoon after mass clinics were overwhelmed with people wanting the shot. The clinics were initially open to everyone, forcing people in wheelchairs and those with asthma or heart problems to wait alongside people who are healthy with no risk factors.
If the demand continued at that pace, the province would have run out of vaccine, Health Minister Ron Liepert said Friday. The vaccine supply is slowing down temporarily because the manufacturer has only one production line and focused efforts on making unadjuvanted vaccine batches that don't contain an additive, for pregnant women. It will take several weeks for the production of the regular vaccine to ramp up to normal levels.
To offset that temporary shortage, Alberta now wants to focus its efforts by giving shots first to people most at risk of developing serious medical problems if they get the flu, including:
- pregnant women;
- children six months to five years old;
- adults under 65 with chronic health conditions.
Details of how high-risk people can get their vaccinations were expected today.
jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
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