Premier Dalton McGuinty says the real challenge is persuading the general public to get an H1N1 flu shot. (Canadian Press)

Despite huge demand for the H1N1 vaccination from people in high-priority groups, Premier Dalton McGuinty says the real challenge will be persuading the general population to get the shot.

McGuinty said Tuesday public health officials across the province have learned from last week's long and frustrating lineups for the swine flu shot and he's convinced things will go more smoothly from now on.

The government's biggest concern right now is persuading all 13 million people in Ontario they need to get vaccinated, he said.

There still seems to be "fairly broad resistance among Ontarians in participating in the vaccination program," the premier said.

"It's absolutely essential," that everyone gets the shot, even if it takes until Christmas to complete the program, he added.

Dr. Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Toronto's Mount Sinai hospital, said he agrees with the premier. But he's concerned that if the vaccine doesn't become widely available for the general public until late December, it may be another reason for people to become complacent.

Low, who is also head of public health laboratories at the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, said he's heard, among other things, concerns from the public over whether the vaccine has been rushed to market.

The yearly complacency about the seasonal flu shot is also a factor, as is the mistaken belief by some that H1N1 is no worse than seasonal flu, he said.

"We definitely have seen a spike in interest as the result of the unfortunate death of Evan," said Low, referring to the Oct. 26 swine flu death of Evan Frustaglio, 13, of Toronto.

"But I think as that memory kind of fades from the headlines over the next couple of weeks, and when the vaccine eventually becomes available, I think we'll see the numbers drop back down again."

Supplier struggles

Hundreds of thousands of Ontario residents have already been given the flu shot and the province aims to have 2.2 million people vaccinated by the end of Saturday, said Dr. Arlene King, the province's chief medical officer of health.

But health officials still don't know when there will be enough vaccine to begin offering it to the general public, saying it depends on the supplier.

The company making Canada's H1N1 vaccine said Tuesday it had finished producing a special version of the shot for pregnant women and was again focusing its efforts on the vaccine intended for most Canadians.

GlaxoSmithKline was asked to make special batches of adjuvant-free vaccine for pregnant women. The switchover of production lines at its plant in Ste-Foy, Que., was blamed for slowdowns in this week's delivery of vaccine across Canada.

Adjuvants are compounds that boost the immune response to the vaccine, allowing lower doses to be used.

The Quebec plant is back to producing the regular vaccine, GSK spokeswoman Megan Spoore told The Canadian Press.