H1N1 Vaccines Available in Canada Earlier Than Expected

Health Canada Ships Two Million Doses of Vaccine, Expects to Approve Week of October 19th

Kyla Matton
Kyla Matton, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Oct 19, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
H1N1 vaccination is already underway in China, Australia and the United States. In the meantime Canada has been holding out for completion of its own vaccine approval process, one that had originally been expected to be completed in the last few days of October for an early November start to vaccine distribution. News over the weekend now tells us that Canada has been shipping millions of doses of H1N1 vaccine to the provinces in anticipation of approval. This "pre-positioning" will allow for almost immediate roll-out of public vaccination programs once approval is announced.

Approval is now expected to be completed early, during the week of October 19th. Provinces will be able to begin vaccination within days, but will have until the beginning of November to begin distributing H1N1 vaccines to the public.

Canada has announced confirmed cases of H1N1 this fall, including a number of individuals who have been hospitalized or died from the flu. While there has been concern over the perceived lag in authorization of the vaccine, health officials have placed emphasis on the fact that Canada has a pandemic preparedness plan in place, and that decisions have been made to allow for very rapid distribution of the vaccine.

In some provinces like Quebec, distribution of seasonal flu vaccine will be delayed until January in order to give precedence to the swine flu vaccination. Quebec's preparation for H1N1 vaccination has been compared to preparation for a war. It is expected that 100 clinics will be opened, providing 200,000 H1N1 flu shots daily, seven days a week. As Canada's current risk level is evaluated at low to moderate, it is hoped that we will be fast enough to head off the worst of a second wave of influenza.

Individuals should consider that the vaccine takes up to two weeks to become effective, however. Those who wish to be vaccinated against H1N1 influenza are encouraged to do so as soon as their community makes the flu shots available to them. Pregnant women and children six months to five years will take the highest priority, we are told.

Besides vaccination, there are other measures the public can take to prevent the spread of swine flu. Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced in a press conference this week that an H1N1 Preparedness Guide is now available from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The guide is available, free of charge, online at fightflu.ca and in local post offices throughout the country. It can also be ordered by calling 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232; TTY 1-800-926-9105.)

Sources:

"1st H1N1 vaccine doses shipped to provinces" CBC News

"Feds ship 2 million doses of swine flu vaccine" CTV News

"H1N1: To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?" Aaron Derfel (The Gazette)

"H1N1 vaccine approval expected this week" Meagan Fitzpatrick (Canwest News)

Other H1N1-related stories by this author:
Pregnant Women and H1N1: Quebec Offers Preventive Leave | Seasonal Flu Shots Delayed in Canadian Provinces | H1N1 History and Recent Developments

Published by Kyla Matton

Kyla Matton has been writing ever since she could hold a pen in her hand. Her first piece was published almost 30 years ago, and since then she has written for a number of print and online publications. Her...  View profile

  • H1N1 vaccine approval has not yet been completed in Canada, but should be announced shortly
  • Provinces have already receved over 2,000,000 doses of vaccine in a "pre-positioning" phase
  • Vaccination against H1N1 influenza could begin within days of approval
In Canada a non-adjuvanted vaccine has been ordered for pregnant women and young children. This vaccine has not yet been shipped to the provinces.

To comment, please sign in to your Yahoo! account, or sign up for a new account.