Ottawa H1N1 clinics ready to reach older kids
Last Updated: Monday, November 9, 2009 | 1:48 PM ET
CBC News
The City of Ottawa is ready to offer the swine flu vaccine to school-aged children, who haven't been a priority thus far, once the province gives the okay.
Line-ups at vaccination clinics across the city, which had been hours long in the early days of the vaccination program, were thinning out this weekend, said Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa's medical officer of health.
"So I think in Ottawa … now we can say that we've probably reached most of the priority group individuals who want the vaccine," Levy added Sunday. "We're probably ready now to expand, and certainly we'll be conveying that to the province within the next 24 hours."
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, hundreds of wristband passes were still available at clinics across town for vaccinations later on in the day. That was a sharp contrast to the crowded conditions and waits of several hours at most clinics during the first week of vaccinations in Ottawa.
Levy indicated that school-age children might be among those who could get the vaccine next.
Two Ontario children in that age group with H1N1 died just before Ontario's vaccination program launched on the week of Oct. 26.
Originally, both the city and the province were asking only pregnant women, children under five, those with chronic health conditions and other groups specifically listed as priorities to show up at the vaccination clinics.
On Friday, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews told reporters that the province plans to continue restricting vaccinations to priority groups this week.
She added that the program could be expanded to school-age children once the province receives more vaccine. Levy said the current supply of vaccine in Ottawa was only enough to last a few more days.
As of Monday, 140,000 Ottawa residents had been vaccinated.
