Vaccinations for the next wave of people eligible for the H1N1 vaccine are continuing this week at clinics all over the Lower Mainland.

But despite the rising number of confirmed cases, no clinics are scheduled for Langley.

Clinics are available in Coquitlam, White Rock. Surrey, Burnaby, Mission, New Westminster, Chilliwack and Delta.

The major problem is that there is no venue large enough, said Fraser Health Authority spokesman Roy Thorpe.

“That doesn’t mean there won’t be some added in the weeks ahead,” Thorpe said, noting that there will be a clinic today (Wednesday), at the Fleetwood Community Centre, 15996 84 Ave. in Surrey.

Thorpe said that normally the FHA would arrange a venue for vaccines for seasonal flu, but the health authority has found nothing suitable in Langley given the huge interest for the vaccine.

The vaccine is available at doctors’ offices and walk-in clinics, he said.

Clinic dates and locations are posted on the Fraser Health website, www.fraserhealth.ca.

At noon on Tuesday, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued its weekly bulletin. It indicated that there have been two deaths in the Fraser Health Region, which includes Langley, in the previous seven days.

In that week, 162 new severe cases of the virus were confirmed in B.C., 79 of them in Fraser Health. Since April, there have been 361 severe cases, including 166 in Fraser Health which has recorded nine deaths.

The province has recorded 15 deaths, all but one involving patients who had underlying medical conditions.

This week’s clinics are for the following high-priority groups:

r People under 65 with chronic health conditions;

r Pregnant women in the second half of pregnancy;

r Children six months of age to under five years old;

r Health care workers, starting with priority groups that deliver critical and frontline health care services;

r Household contacts and care providers of infants under six months of age, and

r Household contacts and care providers of people who have weakened immune systems.

Meanwhile, both the Township and City of Langley are devising contingency plans should the swine flu sideline an usually high number of employees at the same time.

Township administrator Mark Bakken said that the number of employees off work with illnesses that appear to be related to the flu is leveling off.

Absences “are not enough to significantly impaired services,” but if they do the Township will call on more staff and re-allocate duties and responsibilities, Bakken said. If the situation becomes serious, the Township would employ emergency personnel.

Year-to-date figures that compare hours of sickness against the same time last year show a big increase in absences in the Township. These include firefighters, but fire chief Doug Wade explained that the increase is due to the larger number of employees as more firehalls operate around the clock.

The City is not experiencing a spike in the number of employees who are off sick “other than regular sickness that one might see at this time of the year,” said CAO Francis Cheung.

School district spokesman Craig Spence confirmed that more students, teachers and staff are away from school “and the assumption is that it’s because of the H1N1 virus.”