Salmon Arm: Vaccination clinics start tomorrow, Saturday clinic cancelled due to possible shortage.

There may be a shortage of the vaccine but there’s no shortage of the flu.

“We’re seeing H1N1 here, I think it’s everywhere really,” said Kirstine Hill, local health administrator Friday. “We saw an increase midweek with people looking for treatment or reassurance that everything’s OK. There is a lot of anxiety, just because it’s different and it’s so widespread.”

Hill says the volume of people knocked down by the flu is up over the usual seasonal influenza outbreaks, and while IH is not testing everyone, the ones who are being tested are overwhelmingly positive for the swine flu.

She says Dr. Andrew Larder, the health authority’s senior medical health officer, told participants in a conference call Friday that H1N1 is “the only game in town.”

There is controversy surrounding the availability of the vaccine and cancellation of immunization clinics.

Vancouver has held many flu clinics to date while many B.C. Interior communities, including Salmon Arm, have not yet had one immunization clinic.

That will change tomorrow, Nov. 5 and Friday, Nov. 6 when H1N1 (for high-risk individuals only) and seasonal flu clinics take place at the SASCU Recreation Centre – from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday.

A third clinic scheduled for Saturday has been cancelled by Interior Health.

“Yes, the clinics were cancelled over concerns that there may not be enough vaccine,” said IH Public Health communications rep Lannea Parfitt. “However, a clinic is still planned for Salmon Arm on the 10th. The details around that clinic will be posted on our website this Wednesday.”

Vaccine availability is the reason the health region is posting clinics on their website, www.interiorhealth.ca, one week at a time.

As well, some local doctors have the H1N1 vaccine and are giving it to their high-risk patients.

As of yesterday morning, 50 to 55 teachers in School District #83 were away. Salmon Arm West had an absentee rate of 10 per cent and Bastion’s was 11 per cent, said Alice Hucul, school district communications officer.

Carlin Elementary’s absentee rate was 29 per cent, but only 10 per cent were showing flu-like symptoms, another 10 per cent had other illnesses and the rest were described as unknown.

Hucul said Shuswap Middle School and Salmon Arm Secondary have different methods of recording attendance and had not yet notified the school board of their absentee rate.

Hill, meanwhile, says she understands the confusion surrounding who should get what vaccine, when, and how many shots will do increases anxiety.

“It’s constantly changing and that’s part of the problem,” she says of the situation surrounding swine flu. “People don’t know what to believe.”

Originally dictating that pregnant women and children should be given only non-adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine without squalene, a component that increases stimulation of the immune system, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that it was now considered safe for pregnant women to get the adjuvanted vaccine.

The organization also indicated that children don’t need two injections to be protected as previously announced.

Meanwhile, several Bastion Place residents who are suffering flu-like symptoms have been tested and staff were awaiting the results Monday.

“They are in private rooms, nothing has been confirmed yet,” said Mark Pugh, clinical and support service manager for Shuswap Lake General Hospital.

“Even if we only have a suspicion, we go into a bit more of an advanced housekeeping mode, wiping door knobs, handrails, etc.”

Hill meanwhile said Friday that as far as she was aware there have not yet been any more deaths from H1N1 associated with the local hospital.