Prime Minister Stephen Harper held a conference call with the premiers Tuesday to talk about swine flu and the economy.

Provincial sources said the call came at Harper's request and mainly covered the troubled H1N1 vaccination campaign.

Bridgitte Anderson, spokeswoman for B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, said the leaders discussed working together on H1N1 and stabilizing the economy. She declined to comment further.

Another provincial source said the call had been in the works for a week or so.

Canada's largest mass vaccination effort has been hampered by vaccine shortages, long lineups at clogged clinics and widespread confusion and frustration.

Delivery of the vaccine slowed recently after drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline was asked to make special batches of the product for pregnant women.

The changeover from making the adjuvanted version of the vaccine — which contains a booster compound — to making special unadjuvanted batches for pregnant women apparently slowed production of the vaccine more than GlaxoSmithKline had expected.

Provinces hit by dwindling supply

Ontario joined Manitoba and New Brunswick on Tuesday in temporarily closing some flu-shot clinics due to a shortage of vaccine, even for priority groups.

Alberta ran out of vaccine last week and had to temporarily close clinics, while other provinces have been warning of dwindling supplies, including a possible looming shutdown in B.C.

But while some areas of Ontario are shutting down clinics, others have so much vaccine they have begun to distribute it to the general public. So while clinics in the Kingston area are closing because they're out of vaccine, clinics in northwestern Ontario are open to everyone.

A backdrop to the confusion has been the further spread of the H1N1 virus. Last week, health officials reported a three-fold increase from the week before in hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions.

Harper's call also came amid news that Afghan detainees in Canadian custody will be offered the swine-flu shot when the troops get it — and before most people in Canada are vaccinated.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was taken aback by the news that detainees being held at Kandahar Airfield will be offered the H1N1 vaccine.

"Personally, I'm very disturbed by the news," she said. "We did not make this outrageous decision and I've asked my officials to look into that."