Newfoundland and Labrador is expanding the list of people who are eligible to receive the H1N1 vaccine.

"We now feel that we can expand the criteria to another select group and that will be all post-transplant patients," Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said Friday.

Immunization clinics will remain open this weekend and vaccination of elementary students, grades four to six will start Monday. Provincial education officials said Friday that they will continue to play it safe when it comes to school travel.

"I've confirmed for school districts that we're going to extend [the ban on school travel] for a period up to November 30th, which is a Monday," said Education Minister Darin King.

There are signs the pandemic may be easing. The number of hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units and patients requiring ventilators is dropping. But the province's chief medical officer of health cautions that it's too early to say if the worst is over.

"We can never say what's happened 'til it's happened. So we have to be prepared for a resurgence of the disease again. Particularly, if we look at the little pockets of communities that have not been exposed to the virus yet," said Dr. Faith Stratton.

Vaccination against the H1N1 virus is currently underway in the province for the following groups:

• Children between six months and five years of age.
• Parents or other primary caregivers of infants under six months.
• Parents or other primary caregivers of people up to the age of 24 who cannot be immunized.
• All pregnant women.
• Hospital in-patients less than 65 years of age with one or more chronic health conditions.
• Schoolchildren from kindergarten to Grade 3.
• Individuals aged 25 to 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).