Jeff Nagel - BC Local News Published: October 21, 2009 11:00 AM
The biggest mass vaccination campaign in B.C. history will begin next week, when high priority groups will start to be innoculated against swine flu.B.C. now has 230,000 doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine and they'll go first to people under 65 with chronic risk conditions, pregnant women and all people, including First Nations, who live in remote or isolated communities.
The following week, at the start of November, vaccinations will open up to children aged six months to five years, health care workers and household contacts or care providers for infants under six months or people who are immuno-compromised.
In the second week of November, the H1N1 vaccine is expected to be made available to everyone.
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall urged those fearful of H1N1 to wait for their turn in priority and not to attempt to get the vaccine ahead of schedule."I would ask healthy members of the public to stand back and allow those who can benefit most to obtain the vaccine first," he said.Kendall said there will be enough for everyone in B.C.
Plans for the vaccine's provincial rollout came as federal government officials approved its use Wednesday morning.B.C. will also now allow vaccine recipients to get both H1N1 vaccine and seasonal flu vaccine at the same time – one shot in each arm.Originally, health authorities had planned to shelve the seasonal flu vaccine after dispensing it to the highest priority patients this month and shift their attention to H1N1.Kendall said there's now expert opinion that the two vaccines can be given simultaneously, rather than at least a few weeks apart as originally though.
The doses now arriving are adjuvanted vaccine, meaning they contain compounds that boost the immune system's response and allow smaller amounts of the active vaccine ingredient to be used in each dose. That has helped Canada produce more H1N1 vaccine and ensure there will be enough for everyone who wants it. An unadjuvanted version of the vaccine that's considered safer for pregnant women is expected to be available in a few weeks. But those who are in the second half of pregnancy, considered at high risk of severe illness from H1N1, are urged not to wait and to quickly get the adjuvanted vaccine."The risk of contracting H1N1 and developing a complication if you're pregnant far outweighs any possible theoretical risk from and adjuvanted vaccine," Kendall said.Children under 10 years old are to receive two half doses of the vaccine given three weeks apart.
Concern about both the use of adjuvanted vaccine and the presence of minute amounts of mercury in the vaccine have fanned fears among some people. "If you google H1N1, most of what comes up is conspiracy theory paranoia that this is a government plot to kill you," Kendall said. "It's not true. "He said extensive safety precautions are in place to ensure safety but expects some "paranoid" people will refuse it. "We would not be recommending a vaccine we did not think was safe," he said."We will not convince everybody, but I think the number of people who are skeptical remains small."Kendall estimated at least 10 per cent of the population will eventually be infected by H1N1.
Health care workers are encouraged and expected to get H1N1 vaccinations to avoid them infecting at-risk patients, officials say, but it will not be made mandatory.The vaccine will be available from many family doctors, medical clinics, hospital-based public health clinics and even many pharmacists, who have been approved for the first time to vaccinate people.It's normal to have sore, swollen area where flu vaccine is given, and officials say some recipients may experience muscle ache, but that should end within a few days.
For more information on H1N1 and where to get vaccinated, see the flu clinic locator at www.immunizebc.ca or call your public health unit.
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