Interior Health says it’s facing a “rapidly rising rate of H1N1 activity” as they unveiled the vaccination plans for the region on Thursday.

Senior medical health officer Dr. Andrew Larder said there are sharply increasing indicators of H1N1 in the Interior Health region, especially in the East Kootenay area. He expects this wave of the epidemic to continue throughout the region for the next five to six weeks, ending around the same time the regular flu season begins.

“The vaccine is probably the single most important tool we have to control the impact of this virus on our population, on the health of the population and on the pressure that the health care system will face in dealing with people who become ill,” said Larder.

While in a typical flu season 150,000 doses of vaccine are delivered, Interior Health is expecting 600,000 to 700,000 immunization doses to be administered between now and Christmas. According to stats provided by Interior Health, it is projected that in this wave of H1N1 as many as 20,000 people in the region will have to see their physicians, with several hundred admissions to hospital and as many as 10 to 20 deaths.

“We are now living it and we will see very soon just whether those numbers match the reality. Certainly we can expect to see a lot more illness, we will see more hospital admissions and we will see more death — hopefully we can mitigate that by getting this vaccine rolled out as quickly as we can,” said Larder.

The H1N1 vaccine is currently being delivered ahead of schedule but in smaller, more frequent shipments to centres across the health authority. This will have some impact initially on how those identified as at risk will receive the vaccine. The clinics will start administering the vaccine on Nov. 2 and it takes two to three weeks to generate immunity, so if someone currently has illness it will not offer protection. People who are eligible will be able to receive both the H1N1 vaccine and the seasonal flu vaccine in the same visit.

Those at highest risk will receive the vaccine first. This group includes expecting women into the second half of their pregnancy, infants from six months to under three years, people under 65 with chronic illnesses, people who live in remote and aboriginal communities, health care providers and household care providers of compromised people or children under six months. It was originally thought that the H1N1 vaccine with adjuvant should not be used for pregnant women but Larder said the vaccine without adjuvant will not be available for several more weeks and suggested that those who are pregnant should go ahead and get the first round of vaccinations.

“If someone isn’t on that list, you will still be able to get the H1N1 vaccine at one of the future clinics. We are asking people who don’t fall into that first list to hold off for a week or two while we get those at highest risk immunized,” said Larder, adding that there will be enough vaccine generated to give two doses to every person.

“I think people are sensible enough to understand there will be enough vaccine for everybody ... it’s going to be a relatively short time before we can say to everyone that it is available for you.”

While rumours and information about the vaccination circulate the internet, Larder confirmed that there is mercury in the vaccine. He said the mercury is in small enough amounts that it poses no significant health risk and if there is any formaldehyde it will only be traces.

Information on the H1N1 virus and its symptoms along with where immunization clinics are and the times can be found at www.interiorhealth.ca or www.immunizebc.ca. Information is also available by calling HealthLink at 8-1-1.