By Katie Ryan
Now that all residents of Saskatchewan can roll up their sleeves for the H1N1 shot, Prairie North Health officials reassure the supply of vaccine will meet the demand.
“We are certainly getting a lot more of supply this week and so for the number of clinics we have and how many we are able to do in a day, we have plenty of vaccine coming in this week,” said Diane Piper, PNHR manager of Public Health Services. “Our assumption is that the vaccine will continue to come, we have been told that there will be better supplies over the next few weeks.”
Out of the 145,000 doses of the vaccine delivered to the province this week, PNHR received 14,000 just as the mass immunization clinics opened to everyone on Tuesday in Cut Knife, Edam, Lashburn, Loon Lake and Lloydminster. The clinics are scheduled to continue in the region until Dec. 3.
“We are expecting that there will be an increase for the demand of vaccine starting (Tuesday),” said Piper, adding that the clinics are prepared.
“We really encourage people to come out and access the H1N1. I think our clinics are now running really well and are getting a fair bit of positive feedback, and we are able to see a fair number of people on a daily basis. There is some challenge now that we have added in the seasonal influenza, but we are continuing to see a fairly large number of people and I think that will continue.”
As of last Friday, Piper estimated that 18 per cent of the region’s population, or 19, 500 residents, have been vaccinated, not including reserve clients.
“When you are talking PNHR we are not the only ones immunizing in this region,” said Piper, referring to First Nations’ communities. “First Nations health services have also been offering clinics and my understanding is that they have had a really good uptake among the First Nations group.”
Saskatchewan’s deputy chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said that another 15 per cent of the province’s population could be immunized with this week’s shipment of the vaccine.
“There is a good chance we will get the same amount of the vaccine over the next two weeks, so basically we can vaccinate everyone in Saskatchewan over the next 2.5 weeks, but that’s only if people actually come to the clinics,” he said Tuesday, during a phone conference.
PNHR is now also offering the required second dose of H1N1 vaccine for all children six months to three years of age who have already received their first dose and for children three to nine years of age with chronic medical conditions. To receive the second inoculation though, an individual must wait a minimum 21 days following the first dose.
Both H1N1 and seasonal immunizations will be available at public health offices in the region throughout the winter.
Death toll
The province reported two more H1N1-related deaths on Tuesday and the investigation of another death for links to the pandemic virus. Saskatchewan has a total of 11 confirmed H1N1 deaths, as of press time. Of the deaths, five have been men, six have been women, two individuals were under 10 and two older than 65.
“All of the deaths in Saskatchewan have been, so far, individuals with significant underlying medical conditions,” said Shahab, adding that most of the deaths occurred in central and southern Saskatchewan.
Vaccine reaction
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported, as of last week, 650 Canadians had experienced reactions to the vaccine and of those, 36 were severe. In Saskatchewan, Shahab said health officials have reported a total of 98 adverse reactions, two of which were serious.
“It’s been monitored very closely, but most of the reactions we have seen to date are what we see every year with the seasonal flu shot, the rare instances of a rash, especially with people who have underlying allergies or asthma,” said Shahab, adding that in all cases the patients were released from the ER within hours.
Despite the instances of adverse reactions, Shahab encourages all residents to be vaccinated.
“The message for everyone is; think of going to vaccination clinic over the 2.5 weeks. It’s really important for us to have a high level of vaccine coverage for the second wave to end, as we expect, by mid-December, but also to prevent a third wave,” he said.
“If you’re not vaccinated, you remain at risk and that risk will remain over the next year.”