Interior Health has announced details of the first H1N1 flu vaccine clinics to be held in the Central Okanagan.

The clinics will be held next week in Kelowna at the Mission Creek Alliance Church, 2091 Springfield Rd., in Kelowna on Monday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at the Rutland’s Willow Park Church, 439 Highway 33, on Friday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. In West Kelowna, one clinic will be held next week on Nov. 3 at Sensisyusten School, 1920 Quail Lane, on Tuesday, from 9 a.m. 5 p.m.

The first clinics in the Okanagan were held Thursday in Vernon. In Penticton, a clinic will be held at the Trade and Convention Centre, on Friday, Nov. 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Details of the clinics throughout the Interior Health Authority area are being posted weekly on the Interior Health website (interiorhealth.ca).

The details are being posted one week ahead of time because the health authority has received a smaller allotment of the H1N1 vaccine than originally expected.

But local medical health officer Dr. Paul Hasselback was quick to point out that more allotments are arriving regularly, and there will ultimately be there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it.

The health authority is asking the public to let people considered to be at highest risk be vaccinated first. That group includes pregnant women in the second half of pregnancy, people under age 65 with chronic conditions, children six months to five years of age, people with who are in contact and who care for infants under six months of age and people who are immunocompromised, health care workers involved in responding to pandemic and people living in rural and remote communities, including the aboriginal population.

Hasselback said other people who want the free vaccination should wait until clinics to be held after Nov. 9.

The vaccinations are free to the public and will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Appointments are not being taken for the clinics.

So far, the health authority has received 70,000 doses of the vaccination in two shipments. An additional 90,000 were expected next week but that number now appears that it will be between 50,000 and 60,000 doses, said Hasselback.

The smaller numbers are due to the overwhelming demands on the production lines and affect the entire country, not just this area or this province.

Hasselback said while he is not encouraging nurses at clinics or the hundreds of doctors throughout the southern Interior who have responded to a call to dispense the vaccination at their offices to “police” who is getting the vaccine during the first week of clinics, he is asking the population to “work as a society” when it coms to allowing those in greatest need to go first.

“Everyone should rest assured, we will have enough for everyone,” he said Wednesday.

At the clinics, those eligible for free seasonal flu shots, seniors and people with compromised immune systems, will also be able to get them at the same time as the H1N1 vaccine.

awaters@kelownacapnews.com