Vaccination of general public may start soon
Last Updated: Friday, November 20, 2009 | 8:54 PM ET
CBC News
Quebec public health officials say they may be able to accelerate the vaccination of the general public. (CBC)Some regions of Quebec may soon be able to start vaccinating members of the general public against the swine flu as early as next week, public health officials said Friday.
On Thursday, some regions were able to begin vaccinating seniors against the H1N1 virus as officials announced they will receive a larger-than-expected shipment of vaccine next week.
Next week the province is expected to receive 1.1 million doses of the vaccine, roughly double what it has received on a weekly basis so far.
The increased supply means some regions may also be able to accelerate plans to vaccinate healthy adults over the age of 19 — the last group eligible for vaccination, said Quebec's chief public health officer, Dr. Alain Poirier.
“Since we had good news Thursday… we can expect that it will be a little bit earlier than what was expected,” Porier said.
But Poirier said the situation is not the same across all of the province’s regions.
“Actually some regions don't have enough vaccines to keep … [vaccinating] because … the uptake was much higher in their population — so some of them are closed right now,” Poirier said.
So far, 1.7 million Quebecers have been vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
Poirier expressed disappointment that so far only 31 per cent of those under the age of 65 considered to have chronic illnesses — one of the priority groups for vaccination — have taken advantage of the program.
“Probably a lot of them are not thinking of themselves as having a chronic disease,” said Poirier. “But hopefully… they will come with the rest of the general population [to be vaccinated],” Poirier said.
“It is … voluntary,” Poirier said. “There is no way we can force people.”
Quebec's chief public health officer Dr. Alain Poirier says some regions are still short on doses of the H1N1 vaccine. (CBC)
While the vaccination of school-aged children continues, Poirier deflected criticism from teachers groups about the fact their members will not be vaccinated at the same time.
“There is a lot of people who do have important tasks in the population — including myself — and I am waiting and eager to get the vaccination,” said Poirier. “But we should keep the doses for those who are higher risk than us.”
Seniors frustrated
Some seniors in Montreal expressed frustration Thursday with how public health officials have handled H1N1 vaccinations at a local clinic.
Several seniors showed up at an inoculation clinic at the Cavendish Mall on Thursday night only to be turned away when health workers ran out of the vaccine an hour before the centre was scheduled to close.
Lou Koltz, 85, was one of the last people in the line to get vaccinated Thursday evening.
After waiting for weeks to get the shot, Koltz said he found that the experience at the mall clinic was aggravating and "the stupidest thing I've ever seen."
Gerry Gordons said he waited in line but the vaccine ran out before it was his turn.
The 69-year-old vowed that he's "not coming back" and will live without the shot.
Gordons said he was disillusioned with how the entire vaccination campaign was handled. "They just give misinformation," he said, adding that "the people in there aren't given the supplies to do what they have to do," he said.
Health authorities said that a professional development day at Montreal schools on Thursday resulted in a greater number of children showing up at the mall clinic and exhausting the 2,500-dose stockpile.
Lorraine Bouvier, the centre's nursing director, said that more doses of the vaccine are on their way to the clinic.
"If we see that there's a demand, we'll be able maybe to go to 3,000," doses, she said.
Vaccines on hold at stadium
Officials in Montreal served notice that the vaccination centre that had been set up at Olympic Stadium will be closed for the weekend.
The stadium will host the CFL Eastern final between the Alouettes and the B.C. Lions on Sunday.
Starting Saturday, a new vaccination centre will be open on weekends at the Collège Mont-Saint-Louis at 1700 Henri-Bourassa Blvd. E.
