Shorter lineups as H1N1 clinics reopen
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 1:54 PM MT
CBC News
H1N1 vaccine clinics reopened in Edmonton Thursday morning to vaccinate children from six months old to just under five years old.
Parents and children lined up outside the H1N1 vaccination clinic at Edmonton's Westmount Shopping Centre Thursday morning. (CBC)While there were lineups outside clinics, they were considerably shorter than they were on Saturday, when Alberta health officials abruptly closed down the vaccination program due to a supply shortage and overworked staff.
Unlike last week, Thursday's clinics are only for young children and parents will be asked to provide the child's proof of age. On Friday, the province will expand the program for pregnant women. Other high-risk groups will not get their shots until the national vaccine supply is replenished.
More than 100 parents and children were lined up outside the clinic at Westmount Centre when it opened at 9 a.m. About the same number were waiting at the Rutherford Clinic in the southwest part of the city.
At the new clinic at Commonwealth Stadium, Nicole Maneschyn stood outside with her six-month-old daughter.
'Couldn't get in'
"We tried going to clinics last week but couldn't get in," said Maneschyn. "There were certainly a lot of people who were like 20 years old there and a lot of seniors. The clinics were closed by the time we got there."
Frida Bishop made a snap decision to bring her 18-month-old daughter to the clinic at Commonwealth Stadium after hearing about it on the news Thursday morning.
"I figured not too many people knew about it. So I like raced down here," she said.
At the Westmount Clinic, Sabrina Tan said her frustration is not with the lineup but with the government.
"They really didn't consider who the high-risk group is and how they are," said Tan. "It's hard to stand in line if you have one or more children that are under five, and if they're babies, it's even harder."
'They accepted everybody'
Tina Moland, who lined up with her two daughters for vaccinations at the Westmount clinic Thursday morning, had similar criticism.
"It should have been done where it was high risk only, not accepting everybody," she said. "My home town is in Newfoundland, and I know there, they did just the high risk. It was the kids and the pregnant women that the clinics opened for first. They would not accept anybody else. Here, … they asked for high risk, but they accepted everybody."
