Gazette staff

MT. WADDINGTON – The following changes have been made to North Island schedule for H1N1 vaccine clinics.

Port Alice:

The clinic scheduled for Mon., Nov. 2 has been moved from the Community Centre to the Port Alice Health Centre, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Port Hardy:

The clinic at the civic centre, on Tues., Nov. 3, will now be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Woss:

A clinic scheduled for Mon., Nov. 2 at the Woss Medical Centre, will now take place from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Port McNeill

A clinic for Port McNeill has been rescheduled to Fri., Nov. 6 at the Lions Hall, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m..

These clinics are open for eligible high risk groups only, including those under 65 with chronic health conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes), pregnant women over 20 weeks and up to four weeks post-partum, pregnant woman with chronic medical conditions under medical advice, aboriginal people, children between six months and five years old, health care workers who deliver critical care services in emergency rooms and intensive care units and people who live in rural and isolated settings and communities, including all First Nations people living on reserve.

Once the high risk groups have received the H1N1 vaccine, the shot will be available to the general population.

Starting today, the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) said it will be more stringently enforcing eligibility screening at H1N1 flu clinics, to ensure those in the high risk groups get their shots first.

During the first four days of flu clinics, wait times to get the H1N1 flu vaccine spanned several hours at various locations across the region, said VIHA, as public health officials worked to get people through the clinics as quickly as possible.

Public health staff urge those coming to the clinics to wear short or loose sleeves to help speed up the delivery of the vaccine. As well, VIHA is also temporarily suspending seasonal flu shots for seniors in order to further streamline the process and to focus on delivering the vaccine to those most at risk.

Seniors’ flu clinics will resume later in November, the time of year that they are normally held. This change isn’t expected to have any impact on the rate of seasonal influenza among seniors this winter, said VIHA.