Manitoba is in danger of running out of H1N1 vaccine because too many people not on a priority list to receive the shot are turning up at mass-immunization clinics in Winnipeg, the head of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says.

If the rush of people to the clinics keeps up at the current pace, the city could run out of the vaccine by next Tuesday, Dr. Brian Postl, the health authority's CEO, said Thursday.

"We're really urging the public to honour the categories of access that have been identified by Manitoba Health and the Public Health Agency," he said.

“It's become evident that we aren't going to have the vaccine supply that we anticipated having when we began the vaccination program."

'We may have to be more aggressive at triage.'— Dr. Brian Postl, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

The initial shipment of 206,000 doses of the vaccine was supposed to last six weeks, Postl said, but it's been largely used up over the four days Winnipeg clinics have now been open.

The regional health authorities went through 67,000 doses in the first three days of clinic operations this week.

More vaccine will be shipped into the province for next week but not as much as local health officials were expecting. The second week's shipment is expected to be a little more than half of what Manitoba was sent to cover week one.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald said some future clinic dates may have to be postponed until there is a sufficient supply.

Postl said the only people who should be lining up to get an H1N1 vaccination are those in the following categories:

• 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, such as severe obesity, drug 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 dependant.
• 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 for them and won't be available until November.

National supply stretched

Postl said other provinces are also having problems with high demand. Like Manitoba, they are awaiting further shipments of the vaccine from federal health officials.

Lineups at Winnipeg H1N1 vaccination clinics have been up to three hours long at times. Health officials say demand for the swine flu shot is outstripping the current supply. (CBC)Staff with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority have not been policing who gets the shot at clinics, but in light of the dwindling supply, Postl said, they've considered starting to turn non-priority vaccine-seekers away.

"We may have to be more aggressive at triage," Postl said.

Postl added that before the vaccination clinics began, polls done by health officials showed only about 50 per cent of people would seek out the H1N1 shots. Demand this week has shown the forecast was incorrect, Postl said.

‘Unprecedented’ demand triggers long waits

About 70,000 people in Manitoba have received the swine flu vaccine since clinics opened around the province on Monday.

Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health, said Wednesday an “unprecedented” number of people were lining up for shots.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said Thursday that by 3 p.m. 6,430 people had received flu shots, bringing the total after 3½ days to 47,177 people in Winnipeg alone.

Wait times have been long at many clinics around Winnipeg, with some reporting this week that people were waiting hours in line to get an injection.

Thursday, there were reports of a three-hour wait at the Fred Douglas Lodge location in Winnipeg's Inkster area, a two-hour wait at Portage Place Shopping Centre downtown, and a one-hour wait at St. Joseph's Parish Hall in the Point Douglas area.

The clinics in Winnipeg will be open Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT 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 other clinics in the province can be found by checking the Manitoba flu clinics link at the top right of this page.

Winnipeg swine flu vaccine clinics:

With files from The Canadian Press