H1N1 vaccine in short supply, New Brunswickers asked to wait

Immunization clinics were cancelled province-wide on Friday, leaving the Regent Street Clinic mostly empty. (Photo by TJ Milburn)

The H1N1 priority list has changed again.  University students and most other New Brunswickers will have to wait a few more weeks for swine flu immunization.

According to a memo released this morning by the Horizon Health Network to Moncton Hospital staff, Public Health officials are laying out new prioritization criteria for the vaccine.  Due to a rapidly increasing demand for the immunizations, nurses in the Moncton Hospital say the province is short on shots, and clinics are waiting until next week for another order of the vaccine to be delivered before continuing public clinics. Public Health representatives say they will re-open on Nov. 3.

The new priority groups include pregnant women over 20 weeks or those below with underlying medical conditions, school children 18 and under, “household contacts” of children under six months, and First Nations people living on-reserve.  No longer on the priority list are university and college students, seniors, and people under 65 with previous health concerns.

The memo does not explicitly state the province is low on the vaccine, as was reported by health officials this morning and denied later by the Regional Health Authority, but does state the restriction is “in place to ensure that the highest priority groups are vaccinated immediately until a new shipment of vaccine is received next week.”

Today, after clinics were closed across the province, Moncton Hospital staff were informed of “about 250” shots which were reserved for medical personnel who had not yet been immunized.  The vaccine is only effective within two hours of preparation, and staff were told these 250 injections would expire by 7 p.m.

The shortage comes during a radical swing in public opinion toward the immunization.  A week ago, on Oct. 23, Horizon released two conjoined internal memos, urging its staff at the Moncton Hospital to get the free vaccine.

The first, from Marilyn Babineau, occupational health manager for Horizon Health in Moncton, addressed a growing skepticism about the vaccine within the hospital’s staff, stating “as healthcare workers, we need to protect ourselves, our families, and our patients.”

The second memo, released the same morning, attempted to reassure staff, many of whom had reportedly expressed concern with the safety of the vaccine.

“Health Canada has just approved the (vaccine) Arepanrix use, and New Brunswick will be the first province to roll this out,” the second memo, written by Dr. Gordon Dow, Moncton’s infectious diseases specialist, stated.  “I want to assure you that this vaccine has already undergone appropriate clinical evaluation before its Health Canada approval.”

After weeks of media and social scrutiny suggesting hesitance among the province’s populous, New Brunswickers came out in unexpected numbers to receive the immunization.  More than 80,000 residents received the H1N1 vaccine since clinics opened earlier this week.  The surprising number of vaccine recipients quickly depleted the province’s stock.

At a press conference this afternoon, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer, Dr. Eilish Cleary, said there were about 40,000 vaccines remaining in the province.

“We are asking people to be patient, to bear with us,” Cleary said. “Ultimately we will have enough for everybody.  So please be patient.”

Cleary also said people with chronic illnesses are no longer on the priority list, and are being asked to stay home, rather than attend clinics.

The remaining 40,000 vaccines will be used in schools over the next week, Cleary said.

“People we really want to make sure get vaccinated are the children,” she said.  “They are at the highest risk of being hospitalized.”

Five schools in the St. George area were closed Friday due to swine flu, with some schools not scheduled to re-open until Wednesday. Too many bus drivers and teachers are home sick to transport and supervise the students, and up to half the students at some schools are absent.

According to the secretary of Caledonia Regional School, the current vaccination schedule at the Moncton-area elementary-through-high school will not begin until Nov. 13.

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Posted by TJ Milburn on Oct 30, 2009. Filed under News, This Week's Edition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.