Remote communities target of H1N1 vaccine rollout this week
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Clinics across Northern Health will begin rolling out the H1N1 vaccine this week in its major rollout across the northwest. While some clinics were distributing the vaccine last week, Northern Health chief medical health officer Dr. David Bowering said that Northern Health could actually be considered ahead of the pandemic in this region due to our isolated communities.
“Good news for the north is we have lagged behind in terms of the outbreak,” Bowering said. “So we’ll be starting at least as early in relation in relation to the epidemic if not earlier than some other places.”
Priority groups who will be the first to have access to the vaccine will be people under 65 with chronic health conditions, women in the second half of their pregnancy, and residents of remote communities with little access to medical services. Bowering said that after one week or so, after the above groups have been immunized, that group would be expanded to include children aged six months to less than five years of age, health care workers, and household contacts and care providers of infants less than six months of ago and persons who are immunocompromised.
“We’re working as hard as we can to get the clinics open and to get people in as soon as they can,” Bowering said.
At this time, people who expect the vaccine could expect to have some local side effects that mirror the regular influenza shot, which include sore arms, fever, some flu-like symptoms, while some get almost nothing.
These symptoms, due to the adjuvante in the vaccine, should be as significant, perhaps more so, than the symptoms felt with the seasonal flu shot, Bowering said.
“As far as serious consequences, we’re not aware of anything that would put it outside what we would see with the regular flu vaccine,” Bowering said. “While we haven’t tested this vaccine on pregnant women, or very young children, there’s all sorts of theoretical reasons to believe it’s safe.”
Clinics in Houston begin on Nov. 4 - 6 at the Houston Health Center, from 9 - 12 p.m. and 1 - 3 p.m. o r at the Houston Health Unit on Nov. 19, 20, 26 and 27, time to be announced.
For more information, contact the local health center or visit the northern health website at www.northernhealth.ca.
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