Quebecers line up for the H1N1 vaccine Friday. (CBC)

Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc says regional health officials will have the right to turn away anyone seeking a vaccine who is not on the priority vaccination list or who does not live in the region.

Bolduc made the comments Friday amid reports of lengthy lineups and queue-jumping in some regions as the province’s vaccination campaign against the H1N1 virus continued.

Nearly 1,000 people lined up before dawn on Friday at a makeshift vaccination clinic north of Montreal, where health officials launched a local H1N1 inoculation this week, ahead of many other regions in the province.

The clinic in Saint-Eustache opened at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, but hundreds of people braved the cool and wet weather to score a spot in line as early as 5 a.m.

CBC's French-language service reported that one woman even slept in her car in order to secure a spot at the front of the line.

The clinic was overrun on Thursday with nearly 2,000 people, many from outside the community, after news spread that anyone willing to wait would get vaccinated.

Many people who brought their children with the hopes of jumping the priority queue established by Quebec's Health Ministry were enraged when they were turned away at the end of the day.

On Friday, authorities said they would turn away anyone who doesn't live in the region and those who don't fit the priority criteria, in order to keep lines more manageable. The clinic can only vaccinate 225 people an hour.

Speaking in Gatineau, Bolduc insisted the vaccination campaign is under control despite widespread reports of lineups, delays and insufficient stock of the vaccine.

Bolduc said it's up to local health authorities to decide whether they are willing to inoculate people who don't live in their region.

Quebec is receiving more than 400,000 doses of Arepranix H1N1 a week, he said, countering accusations from the Opposition Parti Québécois that the province is getting shortchanged by federal health authorities.

Slowdown in supply

In Montreal, however, officials said a supply shortage could slow the vaccination campaign.

Health Minister Yves Bolduc says people not on the priority list for the vaccine may be turned away. (CBC)

On Friday, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer David Butler-Jones said only 400,000 doses of the vaccine would be distributed across the country next week, compared with the two million sent out this week.

Production of the vaccine was slowed so that the manufacturer could concentrate on producing the adjuvant-free version of the injection for pregnant women.

The president of the Montreal Regional Health Agency, David Levine, said a limited supply of the vaccine would force officials to "be even more strict on the priority clientele."

Levine dismissed criticism that Montreal’s roll-out plan has been slower than other regions', pointing out that the city has the highest concentration of health-care workers and people with serious illnesses in the province.

Levine reiterated a call from Premier Jean Charest for people to remain calm despite the wait to get the vaccine.

"The number of very serious cases is very, very minimal — far lower than we would normally get in an influenza situation," Levine said.

Officials in Montreal are currently focused on vaccinating health-care workers and seriously ill patients in hospitals.

Parents with children younger than six months old; people with suppressed immune systems, and families with members who have suppressed immune systems but can't get the vaccine will be eligible for vaccination starting Nov. 6.

The general population will have to wait until Dec. 7.