Young children and senior citizens with pre-existing medical conditions can now receive the H1N1 flu vaccine in Windsor.

Dr. Allen Heimann, Windsor and Essex County's medical officer, has announced an expansion of the H1N1 vaccination program. (Genevieve Cote/Radio-Canada)

On Friday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit expanded its swine flu immunization coverage to include children under the age of 14 years and people 65 years and older with chronic health conditions.

To help deal with the new priority groups, the health unit has added three new clinics to its schedule starting on Friday:

• Nov. 13, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Essex Arena on Fairview Avenue West.
• Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Windsor Expo Centre on Walker Road.
• Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Novelletto Rosati Sports and Recreation Complex on Carmichael Road.

Extra vaccine will also be available at physicians offices.

There have been "significant increases in the number of confirmed cases" of H1N1 in the last several weeks, according to medical officer Dr. Allen Heimann.

As of Nov. 10, there were 134 confirmed cases of H1N1 and 160 suspected cases, more than twice the number of confirmed cases in mid-October, Heimann said.

"The virus is out there," Heimann said. "Therefore it is still important for individuals to be immunized."

Two men, aged 55 and 56, have died of the virus since April. Both had pre-existing medical conditions.

Previous priority groups included:

• People with chronic medical conditions under the age of 65.
• Pregnant women.
• Children six months of age to under five years of age.
• People living in remote and isolated settings or communities.
• Health-care workers involved in pandemic response or who deliver essential health services.
• Household contacts and caregivers of individuals who are at high risk and who cannot be immunized (such as infants under six months of age or people with weakened immune systems).

As the health unit was announcing the expansion of its clinics, Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital announced it would discontinue the temporary expansion of its emergency department to deal with patients with flu-like symptoms.

On Nov. 5, the hospital increased staff and added a physician to cover a six-hour shift from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily to deal with an unprecedented surge in patient visits.

But that initial influx "has been reduced to a trickle," Dr. David Ng, the hospital's chief of emergency medicine, said in a news release.

"Last night we only treated five patients in total during our six-hour clinic," Ng said. "With such a decrease in demand these patients are more effectively managed in our regular emergency department."

Windsor Regional Hospital, which expanded its emergency department on Nov. 3 to deal with the surge in patient visits, it will keep its clinic open through the weekend. It will "re-evaluate its continuation next week," according to Ron Foster, vice-president of public affairs and communications.