Lineups swell at H1N1 vaccination clinics
Last Updated: Monday, October 26, 2009 | 6:20 PM CT
CBC News
H1N1 vaccination clinics opened in Winnipeg and much of the province on Monday. (Marcy Markusa/CBC)The first day of H1N1 vaccination clinics across Winnipeg and most of Manitoba drew lineups nearly three hours long at some locations.
There were reports Monday of some people getting frustrated with the wait in Winnipeg and walking away.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority opened clinics at 12 locations throughout the city. By mid-morning, the wait time at the downtown clinic in Portage Place Shopping Centre and at the one in River Heights at the Grant Park Shopping Centre was approaching three hours.
The wait at other clinics in the city averaged about 90 minutes.
As of 3 p.m. CT, an estimated 4,000 people had received the vaccination, according to the health authority,
Even before the St. Boniface clinic opened at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain on Provencher Boulevard, about 30 people waited in line.
Around 1 p.m. the line was out the door at the clinic at Garden City Shopping Centre on McPhillips Street while the lines were also steady at the Point Douglas clinic at St. Joseph's Parish Hall on College Avenue.
Karen Styrchak, 32, was one of those first up at the St. Boniface clinic. She rolled up her sleeve to get the shot with her 2½-year-old daughter Isabelle.
"I'm pretty healthy," Styrchak said. "I rarely get sick. But with young children around — and as my parents age and there's more people I know who are at risk around me — it's really to safeguard them as well."
Because of the anticipated high demand for the vaccine and the limited quantity initially available, the provincial government announced a list of priority groups — those at highest risk for serious illness — to get vaccinated first.
The groups who should get the H1N1 flu shot first include:
- Children aged six months to five years.
- Anyone of aboriginal ancestry (First Nations, Métis or Inuit).
- Disadvantaged individuals (for example, the homeless).
- People living in remote or isolated areas.
- People under 65 with a chronic medical condition or other risks, including severe obesity, substance abuse or alcoholism.
- Anyone with a weakened immune system or those who live with or care for such people.
- Those who live with or care for infants younger than six months old.
- Single parents or anyone solely responsible for a dependent.
- Health-care workers and medical first responders.
- Pregnant women.
Although pregnant women are listed as a priority group, a shot without adjuvants — chemicals that boost a vaccine's effectiveness — is recommended and won't be available until November.
Pregnant women are advised to wait until then, unless the cases of H1N1 in the province surge before then or a woman's family doctor suggests she get the vaccine, said the health authority.
Some officials who got the shot Monday include Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health, and Dr. Brian Postl, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
The Opaskwayak Cree Nation near The Pas started vaccinating health staff on Monday, while children and youth will get the shots on Tuesday and adults through the rest of the week.
Norway House Cree Nation will start its flu shot campaign next week, when more nurses and clerical staff can be provided by the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.
Head nurse Flora Simpson told CBC News that staff will spend this week on making the community aware of the vaccine's safety and encouraging people to get the shot.
First Nations people in remote northern Manitoba communities were hit particularly hard by the swine flu virus in the spring, when hundreds got sick and dozens had to be flown to Winnipeg for treatment.
That outbreak prompted the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to declare a state of emergency.
Garden Hill leaders get shots
A vaccination clinic also opened Monday in Garden Hill First Nation, where about 10 nurses were flown from Winnipeg to help operate it.
About 4,000 people live in the community, which reported several confirmed cases of swine flu in the spring, but there is only enough vaccine on hand for 2,700. Provincial health officials say more vaccine will be arriving in the next few days.
David Harper, grand chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization representing most First Nations communities in northern Manitoba, was quick to get in line, as was Garden Hill Chief Dino Flett.
CBC News reporter Waubgeshig Rice, who was in Garden Hill on Monday, said the First Nations leaders wanted to set an example to others because some people are apprehensive about the vaccine's safety.
"They want to encourage other people in the community here to come and get it," Rice said. "They just want to prove that it's safe and it's in the community's best interest. The leadership came down today just to quell some of those concerns."
Vaccinations are free of charge for everyone in Manitoba. People are reminded to bring their Manitoba health card when they go.
The clinics in Winnipeg will be open Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be closed on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, and are scheduled to run until Dec. 4.
Locations for the other clinics in the province can be found by checking the Manitoba flu clinics link at the top right of this page.
