Clinics likely to run out of H1N1 vaccine later this week
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall
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Updated: November 10, 2009 6:51 AM
It's still too early to say whether the H1N1 flu outbreak is about to peak in the Lower Mainland – or how soon vaccinations will be thrown open to the general public.
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said the aim is to soon begin vaccinating first responders like police, firefighters and jail guards who aren't among the groups that have so far been given priority access to the H1N1 vaccine.
He said first responders could be getting the vaccine around Nov. 23 and he hopes it could be made available to the general public soon after that.
Delays in the production of the vaccine in Quebec by GlaxoSmithKline has slowed the pace of vaccinations across the country.
This week, vaccination efforts are focusing on pregnant women, who are being offered unadjuvanted H1N1 vaccine, and front-line health care workers.
There are also 10 clinics open in both the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions for any of the high-risk groups so far identified – people under 65 with chronic medical conditions, children aged six months to four years and caregivers or close contacts of infants and the immuno-compromised.
But some of those clinics may be shut down later in the week as the current 65,000 doses of vaccine on hand as of Monday get used up.
"So far we've been able to administer just over 800,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine to British Columbians," Kendall said.
That's roughly 20 per cent of the population.
Another 250,000 doses are expected to arrive by the middle of next week and by the end of next week, it's estimated B.C. will have vaccinated 1.1 million, or a quarter of the population.
Kendall dismissed suggestions that the value of getting vaccinated will soon start to wane once the rate of infection starts to subside.
The virus is expected to continue circulating in the population, he said, adding some experts predict a third wave of H1N1 infections in the spring.
He said one mathematical model suggests the H1N1 flu could be close to a peak in B.C. now but it's still too early to say with confidence.
Hospitals across the Lower Mainland continue to be very busy.
Vancouver Coastal hospitals have had to cancel a small number of elective surgeries.
Fraser's intensive care units are full, Kendall, said, but haven't had to cancel scheduled procedures or turn anyone away.
It's not unusual for B.C. hospitals to be at or above capacity at certain times of the year, he noted.
"They're not overwhelmed," Kendall said. "It shows the system is responding well to pressure."
Some unadjuvanted vaccine is also being kept in reserve in case pregnant women who initially decline to get it change their minds, or for other women who become pregnant.
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