Extra H1N1 vaccine ordered for pregnant women
Ten-year-old Jesse O’Neill-Bains reacts to the H1N1 vaccine given by public health nurse Marin Moore Monday at the Saanich Health Unit.
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Updated: October 27, 2009 10:36 AM
An extra 200,000 doses of a special H1N1 vaccine for pregnant Canadians has been ordered from Australia and should arrive next week.
But that’s not soon enough, said Dr. Richard Stanwick, chief medical health officer for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.
Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to complications after catching the H1N1 flu bug. No matter how advanced the pregnancy, he said, women should ask their doctors about getting vaccinated as soon as possible, even it means getting a boosted (adjuvanted) vaccine.
An adjuvant is an additive that makes the vaccine more effective. It consists of shark oil, vitamin E and polysorbate 80 (an emulsifer used in ice cream).
Initially, provincial and federal health authorities advised pregnant women in the second half of their pregnancies to wait for the unadjuvanted vaccine, due to arrive in mid-November, saying not enough study had been done on the effects of the boosted vaccine on pregnant women.
But Stanwick said he and B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, are now agreeing that pregnant women at any stage should get whichever vaccine is immediately available. “(If they) wait untill mid-November and it takes two weeks to develop immunity … this (flu season) could be all over by the time they become immune. People need to be told we’re not talking about something that’s coming – it’s here.”
Canada has ordered 1.8 million doses of unadjuvanted vaccine from Quebec-based GlaxoSmithKline.
But that shipment isn’t expected until mid-November, prompting the feds to order an emergency supply from an Australian manufacturer.
VIHA received 35,000 doses of vaccine from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control last week. Those dosages have been sent to 285 clinics and pharmacies on the Island to offer the vaccine.
Clinics were set to begin offering the vaccine in Greater Victoria on Tuesday.
VIHA is expecting a second shipment of vaccine to arrive today (Oct. 28) to be used in clinics that begin next week. But Stanwick is hoping to use some of that supply to finish immunizing crowds of high-risk individuals expected to show up at clinics this week.
Next week, clinics will also be open to immunize children age six months to five years, health-care workers and those who work or live with infants under six months. Vaccinations for the general population won’t be available until the week of Nov. 9.
For information on where to receive a free vaccination against H1N1, go to www.viha.ca/h1n1/public/vaccine.htm
vmoreau@saanichnews.com
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