N.L. expands flu shot eligibility list
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | 9:24 AM NT
CBC News
Newfoundland and Labrador will expand the list of groups who have priority to receive the H1N1 vaccine after the province's next shipment of H1N1 vaccine arrives Wednesday.
Effective Thursday, people in the following groups will be eligible for inoculation:
- Hospital in-patients less than 65 years of age with one or more chronic health conditions.
- School-aged children from kindergarten to Grade 3.
- Individuals aged 25-40 with chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cystic fibrosis.
- Individuals undergoing active cancer treatment and transplant patients (including pre-transplant patients on a wait list and post-transplant patients in the last two years).
Giving priority to these groups will ensure the people who need to be immunized most will receive flu shots first, health officials say.
"We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people between 25 and 65 with chronic conditions, representing about 20 per cent of the [province's] population," provincial Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said. "We simply don't have enough vaccine to offer it to all of these individuals at this time."
A health-care worker prepares flu vaccine in St. John's. (CBC) If individuals who fall into the above categories are unable to be vaccinated due to the limited supply before the Nov. 5 shipment runs out, health officials say they will be prioritized for vaccination when the Nov. 11 vaccine shipment arrives.
"I continue to ask for the co-operation and patience of the public as we address the limited availability of vaccine at this time," Kennedy said. "I reiterate that there will eventually be enough vaccine for everyone in the province who wants it."
The chief medical officer of health for the province, Dr. Faith Stratton, said the latest shipment of vaccine means there is enough to start giving the shot to more people.
"We've had a look at how much vaccine will be left in the various clinics across the province as of this morning," she told CBC News Wednesday morning, "and as you know, we've gotten 7,500 doses, extra doses, so we'll have about 11,000 doses in the province starting today."
On Monday the list of high-priority groups was adjusted to include parents or primary care providers of children under the age of six months and of immunocompromised children and young adults who cannot be vaccinated.
The vaccine is also available to children between the ages of six months and five years, people between the ages of five and 24 who have chronic conditions, and pregnant women who are in the second half of their pregnancy.
The latest numbers from health officials show 34 more ill people who were suspected of having the H1N1 flu virus were admitted to hospitals in the province between Monday and Tuesday.
Nine of them were being treated in intensive care, while seven were breathing with the assistance of ventilators.
