H1N1 vaccine delays will affect future roll-out plans for province wide immunization schedules, but the top priority area of young children and pregnant women will be unaffected.
The Cypress Health Region is hosting four days of immunization clinics starting on Monday to reach a target group of children aged six months to less than five years and pregnant women.
However, future H1N1 immunization plans for the province are being re-evaluated after government officials learned on Friday they would only be receiving 13,000 doses of the expected 60,000 dose shipment.
The significant reduction in vaccine supply means the province will have to more carefully manage the provincial supply until more vaccine arrives.
"While this is disappointing and frustrating news, we do have enough vaccine to immunize young children and pregnant and post-partum women as planned next week," Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Moira McKinnon said in a press release. "We will continue to open up vaccine clinics to other high-risk groups based on available vaccine and the most current information we have about H1N1's tendencies and patterns."
An H1N1 press briefing by Cypress Health Region officials on Friday morning highlighted that plans are in place for a roll-out of the first phase of public immunizations.
“We will have enough vaccine to do the covered population that we’re targeting, that’s again that six months to less than five years and pregnant women, our covered population on that is right around about 2,300 people,” explained Trent Regier, Director of Population Health, Cypress Health Region.
Health officials have confirmed the adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine is safe for pregnant women. It is currently recommended that pregnant women over 20 weeks gestation (and under 20 weeks if high risk) and women four weeks post partum receive the adjuvanted vaccine. Pregnant women under 20 weeks gestation and not at high risk may wait for the unadjuvanted vaccine, which originally had been expected to be available week of Nov. 9th.
Children aged six months to less than five years of age will require two half doses of H1N1 vaccine three or more weeks apart. Guidance regarding the timing of the second dose will be provided at the clinics.
The first week of H1N1 immunizations across the province targeted healthcare workers so that illness would not reduce the capacity of the healthcare system during this second wave of H1N1 outbreaks.
Dr. David Torr, Consulting Medical Health Officer for the Cypress Health Region, explained that the availability of vaccine is dictating the provincial plan for immunizations.
“As you can see, with the limited doses of supplies we’re getting of vaccine, we are sequencing. So we’re getting the target groups that we feel we can fit in that are most at risk. And that way we are covered the population as supplies come in, as opposed to having clinics just for everybody and yet we don’t have enough vaccine,” he said during Friday’s press conference.
“So as per next week, we start with the six month to under five and pregnant women. The week after that, according to supplies, we will again expand that, and so on. Every week we will be getting more out to more of the population until we have covered the whole population.”
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