Albertans 'guaranteed' to learn more today of revised H1N1 plan
Jodie Sinnema, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Monday, November 02, 2009
EDMONTON - Health officials are still ironing out Alberta's plan to overhaul the province's H1N1 vaccination strategy, but will offer more details today on how it will work, said John Tuckwell, spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness.
While no time has been set for the release of those details, Tuckwell guaranteed more information will be made public.
The province stopped vaccinating 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.
jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
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