H1N1 vaccine supply in danger

Manitoba is in danger of running out of H1N1 vaccine because too many people not on a priority list to receive the shot are turning up at mass-immunization clinics in Winnipeg, the head of the Winnipeg Regional Heath Authority says.

“We’re really urging the public to honour the categories of access that have been identified by Manitoba Health and the Public Health Agency” of Canada, Brian Postl, the health authority’s CEO, said Thursday.

“It’s become evident that we aren’t going to have the vaccine supply that we anticipated having when we began the vaccination program,” Postl said.

Postl said the only people who should be lining up to get an H1N1 vaccination are those in the following categories:

• Children aged six months to five years.
• Anyone of aboriginal ancestry (First Nations, Métis or Inuit).
• Disadvantaged individuals (for example, the homeless).
• People living in remote or isolated areas.
• People under 65 with a chronic medical condition or other risks, such as severe obesity, drug abuse or alcoholism.
• Anyone with a weakened immune system or those who live with or care for such people.
• Those who live with or care for infants younger than six months old.
• Single parents or anyone solely responsible for a dependant.
• Health-care workers and medical first responders.
• Pregnant women.

Although pregnant women are listed as a priority group, a shot without adjuvants — chemicals that boost a vaccine’s effectiveness — is recommended for them and won’t be available until November.

Postl said other provinces are also having problems with high demand. Like Manitoba, they are waiting for more shipments of the vaccine from federal health officials.

Postl said people need to respect the high-risk priority groups until more shipments of the H1N1 vaccine arrive in Manitoba.

‘Unprecedented’ demand triggers long waits

More than 40,000 people in Manitoba have received the swine flu vaccine since clinics opened around the province on Monday.

Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba’s chief medical officer of health, said Wednesday an “unprecedented” amount of people have been lining up for the shots.

The Winnipeg Regional Heath Authority said 16,336 people were vaccinated at 12 Winnipeg clinics Wednesday, bringing the three-day total to 40,747 in Winnipeg alone.

Wait times have been long in many clinics around Winnipeg: Some reported this week that people were waiting hours in line to get the injection.

As of noon Thursday, there was a three-hour wait at the Fred Douglas Lodge location in Winnipeg’s Inkster area, a two-hour wait at Portage Place Shopping Centre downtown, and a one-hour wait at St. Joseph’s Parish Hall in the Point Douglas area.

The clinics in Winnipeg will be open Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be closed on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, and are scheduled to run until Dec. 4.

Locations for other clinics in the province can be found by checking the Manitoba flu clinics link at the top right of this page.

Winnipeg swine flu vaccine clinics:

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