Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

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H1N1 vaccine ready to go

Updated: Mon Oct. 19 2009 15:59:08

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The H1N1 flu shot is ready to go and has already been distributed to the provinces and territories and more will be ready in the coming days.


The vaccine is still waiting for approval from Health Canada before Canadians can be immunized but that process is well underway and clinics are standing by.


Health officials have ordered 50 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine and there's enough for everyone who wants it, free of charge.


Alberta clinics will have to change direction when the vaccine becomes available and exchange the seasonal shots for the H1N1 vaccine.


Two versions of the vaccine will eventually be available, one with adjuvant and one without.


Adjuvant is used to stimulate the immune system and may increase the body's response to the vaccine.


The vaccine without adjuvant is recommended for pregnant woman but health officials say both vaccines are safe for expectant mothers.



For influenza information and clinics locations visit the Alberta Health Services Website.

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091019/CGY_flu_shot_091017/20091019?hub=CalgaryHome

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

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Albertans can get their H1N1 shot starting on Monday, October 26th.

Albertans can get H1N1 vaccine starting Monday

Updated: Wed Oct. 21 2009 17:57:37

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Alberta Health Services will start vaccinating people against H1N1 beginning on Monday.


The vaccine was officially approved by Health Canada on Wednesday.

"This vaccine has undergone rigorous testing processes and clinical trials around the world and is established to be safe," says Dr. Andr&#233; Corriveau, Alberta's chief medical officer of health. "Getting immunized is one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of this virus."

The province wants high risk groups to get immunized first but all Albertans over the age of six months will be able to get shots.


The vaccinations will be available at the same locations where the seasonal flu shot were being given.

"These programs will shift their priority to H1N1 vaccine delivery," said Dr. Gerry Predy,. "However, seasonal influenza immunization will still be available at these sites to those who want it."
For more information on H1N1 clinics and who falls into the high risk group, click on the Alberta Health Services link to the right.

Link to Alberta Health Service:

http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/714.asp

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091021/CGY_H1N1_Shot_091021/20091021/?hub=CalgaryHome

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Source: http://www.am770chqr.com/News/Local/...spx?ID=1155357

Long lines for H1N1 flu shots in Calgary

CHQR Newsroom
10/26/2009

The doors are now open at four H1N1 flu shot clinics in Calgary.

At the Avenida Village location, anyone thinking of ducking in for a quick shot on the way to work this morning might want to come up with another plan. Hundreds of people are lined up outside the clinic and they're being told to expect a wait time of about an hour.

There's a clinic offering the shot in each quadrant of the city and they'll be open until 8 pm. Tveryone planning to brave the lines is reminded to bring their Alberta Health card.

Other clinics are located at Brentwood Village Mall, the Whitehorn EMS station and at the Richmond Road Diagnostic Treatment Centre at the former children's hospital location. Those who live outside the city can find the nearest clinic by visiting AlbertaHealthServices.ca .

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Alberta Health Services:

Immunization Clinic Search

http://www4.albertahealthservices.ca/Immunization/

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Massive immunization lineups irk Calgarians
By TARINA WHITE, Sun Media

Last Updated: 26th October 2009, 1:20pm


Frustrated Calgarians are waiting in line more than two hours at the city?s four mass flu clinics to get the H1N1 shot today.

While many in line at the Whitehorn clinic questioned the logic of having four centres to serve roughly one million residents, Dr. Judy MacDonald said the mass clinics are the most effective way to vaccinate every resident.

?We have a limited workforce ? the best way to vaccinate the whole population is to concentrate our resources,? she said.

?If we start having a few nurses here and there, it does make it very much less efficient.?

Heidi Buchanan arrived at 8:40 a.m. this morning and was irate to still be waiting in line at 11:30 a.m.

?It really angers me ? if you?re going to have mass immunization, you have to have it distributed to more than four clinics,? she said.

School teacher Karen Labbe was stunned to arrive to a lengthy lineup snaking its way from outside the clinic to the nurses? stations inside.

?When I looked at the lineup my initial reaction was to leave ? but you have to bite the bullet,? she said.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alber...-11531786.html

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

H1N1 clinic hours extended in Calgary
Jennifer Earl-King | Monday, October 26th, 2009 7:15 pm

Alberta Health Services extended the hours on day one at the city's four H1N1 vaccination clinics.

The locations were originally scheduled to close at 8 p.m., however officials decided to keep them open three more hours to deal with the overwhelming number of Calgarians who showed up to get their shot.

The longer hours only applied to those that were in line by 5 p.m. Anyone that showed up after that was turned way.

AHS spokeswoman, Lisa Sutherland, tells 660News they are considering opening another clinic in Calgary. They are also looking at re-deploying staff who are able to administer the vaccine to work at the clinics and permanently extending the hours.

The final numbers for day one still have to be tallied, but in the first six hours of operation, 4,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine were administered.

The Calgary clinics with re-open Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

http://www.660news.com/more.jsp?cont...26_211522_5720

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

More H1N1 clinics to open in Calgary, province-wide

By Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald
October 27, 2009 1:19 PM

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Stephane Marcotte and wife Jaimie share a pizza as they wait in line with many other Calgarians outside of the clinic at the Avenida Shopping Centre to get their H1N1 vaccines.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

EDMONTON - Eleven additional H1N1 vaccination clinics will soon be established in Alberta, including an extra one in Calgary, Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said today as he acknowledged the province was taken aback by the sheer number of Albertans who waited in long lines on the first day of the mass immunization campaign.

Speaking at the legislature, Liepert noted supplies of the vaccine arrived a few weeks sooner than expected, and finding and training appropriate medical staff has been a challenge.

?To those Albertans who lined up yesterday for several hours I would express my apologies for having to wait in line,? Liepert said. ?On the other hand, I think we have to look at this has been an incredibly successful kickoff to our vaccination program,? he added.

?One of our greatest concerns was that . . . far too many people would not take this seriously. Obviously, Albertans have.?

Nearly 38,000 Albertans rolled up their sleeves Monday to get the free H1N1 shot, far more than the province expected. Liepert said Alberta Health Services has been working throughout the night to find ways to administer the vaccine more broadly.

The health board has secured 11 additional locations across the province to serve as sites for mass clinics. Liepert said those clinics will be up and running in the next few days. Calgary, which has four clinics compared to Edmonton?s five, will be getting an extra vaccination site.

?The overwhelming turnout by Albertans on Day 1 clearly caught most people by surprise,? Liepert said.

He said the province?s main goal in the early days of the immunization campaign is to vaccinate as soon as possible high-risk groups, which include people under 65 with chronic health issues, pregnant women, and people who live in remote or isolated communities, including First Nations.

Clinics on Monday, however, drew high-risk and non-high-risk Albertans.

?Many who weren?t considered high risk felt they wanted to be protected, and that?s not a bad thing,? Liepert said. ?But it clearly did create situations yesterday that were unacceptable and we?re going to work towards making sure that we take corrective action.?

Liepert said he expects the long lines will diminish in a few days. He added that other vaccine distribution methods will begin shortly, as the next shipment of H1N1 shots is expected to arrive Thursday.

Family physicians interested in giving the H1N1 shot have been asked today to place orders for the vaccine. The province also hopes roughly 400 pharmacists who have been certified to give the shot will begin receiving supplies early next week.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/More+H1N1+clinics+open+Calgary+province+wide/2151212/story.html

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/...342/story.html

Alberta adds clinics as H1N1 death toll rises

Three more Albertans with H1N1 die

By Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldOctober 28, 2009 6:50 AM

CALGARY - As medical officials confirmed three more H1N1-related deaths in the province Tuesday, Alberta Health Services announced a fifth Calgary clinic to tackle massive lineups for immunizations against the new flu strain.

The health superboard said it's opening the new clinic today at 8:30 a.m. at the Olympic Oval to serve people who have trouble standing in lineups, including pregnant women, young children and seniors.

The organization is also trying to boost access to existing swine flu vaccine clinics by increasing staff and the number of vaccination stations at the existing sites.

On Monday, about 8,000 Calgarians received a shot at the local H1N1 vaccination clinics, leading to waits as long as six hours and criticism four sites were not enough for the city.

"We have had long lineups, so this is our attempt to try to respond to some of the very important concerns that were raised yesterday," Dr. Judy MacDonald, deputy medical officer of health for the superboard, said Tuesday.

To boost staffing at the clinics and open a fifth location, Alberta Health Services is suspending Calgary Community Health Centres--where vaccines for sicknesses such as measles and mumps are delivered -- for at least one week to redeploy staff and resources.

The changes to the H1N1 clinics come as Alberta Health announced the number of deaths in the province linked with the new strain of influenza has risen to 12 from nine since Friday.

The victims include a Calgary woman who was in her 50s, an elderly man from Edmonton and a woman over age 50 from the southern part of the province.

All three are believed to have had risk factors that would predispose them to developing a serious disease from the virus.

Nearly 200 people in Alberta have been hospitalized with H1N1 since the outbreak began last spring.

At some of the Calgary H1N1 vaccination clinics, meanwhile, lineups appeared to be shorter Tuesday than when the massive vaccination campaign was launched a day earlier.

By mid-afternoon, patients at the Whitehorn clinic in northeast Calgary were only waiting a few minutes to receive a shot.

"There was no wait," said Glynese Brown, 62. "By the time I grabbed a number, I was in. My husband waited five hours yesterday."

Jill Lockerbie, a 35-year-old pregnant Calgarian, said she waited 10 minutes at the clinic.

"I think people were scared off by media reports of seven-hour waits," she said.

However, some patients at other locations in the city said they waited at least three hours for a shot and felt Calgary should have far more flu shot locations.

Several people noted that Winnipeg health officials set up 12 clinics for a city that is smaller than Calgary.

"It's appalling," said Julia Hillier, 24, as she stood in a long line at the Brentwood Village clinic.

"If we're a city of a million, how can that small number of clinics serve us?"

Alberta Health Services said the new Calgary clinic and the additional vaccination stations at existing sites should help ease the lineups.

Health Minister Ron Liepert also said Tuesday the province will set up 10 other H1N1 vaccination clinics, in addition to the new Calgary location.

Officials with Alberta Health did not provide details on where the other 10 sites will be. Meanwhile, Alberta Health Services did confirm at least one rural area ran out of the shots Tuesday, but said doses will be redistributed to ensure clinics can continue operating.

In Calgary, the Olympic Oval clinic is targeted at pregnant women, children aged six months to less than 10 years, seniors and accompanying family members.

The clinic, on the second floor of the Oval at the University of Calgary, will be open Mondays to Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m..

The other four clinics in the city will operate under the same time schedule.

The province had 400,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine at the start of the week and expected to receive more within days.

Seasonal flu shots are being suspended at Calgary H1N1 flu clinics to concentrate on the swine flu vaccine.

---------

H1N1 Immunization Clinics

- Brentwood Village mall, 302, 3630 Brentwood Rd. N.W.

- EMSWhitehornstation, 100,370535thSt. N.E.

- Richmond Road Diagnostic Treatment Centre, 1820 Richmond Rd. S.W.

- AvenidaVillagemall, 303,12445LakeFraserDr. S.E.

- Olympic Oval, second floor, University of Calgary

- For hours and other information on the clinics, visit www.albertahealthservices.ca

mlang@theherald.canwest.com

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Rural Albertans waiting longer for H1N1 shot

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CBC News


In the southern Alberta town of Okotoks, people lined up outside the Centennial Arena for an H1N1 shot on Tuesday. (CBC)

People in Calgary and Edmonton might be grumbling about waiting in long lines for the swine flu shot, but in some rural communities residents won't receive the vaccine for days and might just have only one chance to get vaccinated.

Residents of Rocky Mountain House, west of Red Deer, will have to wait for two weeks longer than people in Calgary and Edmonton for a chance to get vaccinated against pandemic H1N1.

"I listen to people whining about the lineups. We in Rocky would like to see a lineup," Don Anderson said Tuesday. "The stuff has been released in the major cities and some of the outlying areas. We won't see the first clinic in Rocky until Nov. 9.

"I just think that is totally unacceptable."

Okotoks was one Alberta town that saw health officials open a clinic on Monday, the same day as in Calgary and Edmonton.

Lines at the town's Centennial Arena snaked around the building. In one day, nurses estimated they delivered more than 1,000 inoculations against the strain of H1N1 influenza A virus causing the current swine flu pandemic.

Flu shot clinics are scheduled a few days a week at the arena until at least Dec. 9.

But residents of Black Diamond or Turner Valley, just west of Okotoks, will have to wait until noon on Thursday for an opportunity to get the shot.

The clinic at the Flare N Derrick Community Hall will run intermittently until at least Dec. 10.

Patrick Phillips, who lives in Black Diamond, wasn't willing to wait and he brought his family of four to Okotoks to get their shots on Monday.

Waiting in line, he speculated why the vaccine isn't coming to his hometown until later this week.

"They'll probably pass it off as an issue [of] not having the resources, but I don't see how 15 or 16 kilometres would take four days," he said.

Just one day for ski town

Some smaller centres in Alberta will have to wait days before they receive their supplies of vaccine.

The village of Lake Louise is scheduled to get the shots on only one day ? and the Nov. 6 clinic will only be open for six hours.

"That's opening day at the ski hill," said local doctor Dr. Brian Page. "So we have 600 ski hill employees, and they all are going to be up at the ski hill on Nov. 6. Obviously, we have to look at another date, probably offering a clinic up at the hill to look after these kids,"
Red Deer, a city of nearly 90,000, has only nine days set aside for clinics, starting Thursday.

Barrhead, northwest of Edmonton, won't see a clinic until Nov. 2.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Ron Liepert announced that Alberta is adding 11 new clinics across the province within the next couple of days to help meet the high demand for swine flu vaccinations. Of the 11 new clinics, an extra one will be set up in Calgary. He didn't say where the other clinics would be located.

Health officials are encouraging those at greater risk to get the shot early. But any Albertan over six months of age can get the vaccine.
More details about swine flu clinics in rural areas and available on Alberta Health Service's website.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/10/27/calgary-alberta-rural-swine-flu-shots-vaccine.html

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Second wave of H1N1 sends absentee rates soaring at Calgary schools


Stephanie Irvine, Dominic Terry and Radana Suk | Thursday, October 29th, 2009

The number of Calgary students staying home sick because of flu-like symptoms is on the rise.

School officials say they can't be sure the absentee rates are related to H1N1 because Alberta Health Services isn't testing widespread cases of the virus.

But they're erring on the side of caution and telling students to stay home if they're ill.

The Calgary Board of Education says it's seeing absentee rates as high as 30 per cent at some schools. Those numbers are being reported to health officials.

CBE Spokesman Ted Flitton tells the Calgary Herald the board would like to see vaccination clinics set up at their schools, but were told by Alberta Health Services there isn't enough vaccine.

The Calgary Catholic School District says it has also seen an increase in absences related to flu-like symptoms at a number of their schools.

Spokesperson Janet Sutherland says letters are being sent to parents at any school that sees more than 10 per cent of it's students staying home sick.

Letters have already been sent home at 15 catholic schools and 30 public schools.

There are five H1N1 clinics in the city:

- Brentwood Village Mall, 302, 3630 Brentwood Rd. N.W.
- EMS Whitehorn Station, 100, 3705 35th St. N.E.
- Richmond Road Diagnostic Treatment Centre, 1820 Richmond Rd. S.W.
- Avenida Village Mall, 303, 12445 Lake Fraser Dr. S.E.
- The Olympic Oval, on the campus of the University of Calgary

http://www.660news.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091029_084439_8376

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gDivr2ISUFoj8bUjdH-Nd6Pel3bQ

All Calgary swine flu vaccination clinics shut down for day due to demand

(CP) ? 11 minutes ago

CALGARY ? Calgary's five swine flu vaccination clinics have shut their doors due to overwhelming demand.

Alberta Health Services says the clinics stopped accepting new people as of noon.

It says those still in line will receive their shots today, but they're advised to be patient.

The clinics are to reopen Saturday morning.

Health Services also says that some clinics may be temporarily suspended due to a slowdown in supply from the federal government, but it adds the vaccine is still coming and closures should be brief.

The province is asking healthy people to let others in high-risk groups get vaccinated first, although no one will be turned away.

Copyright ? 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

http://www.660news.com/more.jsp?content=20091030_133537_11136

5 H1N1 clinics close just hours after opening
Glory Przekop | Friday, October 30th, 2009 11:37 am

Alberta Health Services is turning people away at all five H1N1 vaccination clinics in the city.

People showing up at the Richmond Road Diagnostic Treatment Centre, Brentwood Village Mall, Avenida Village Mall, EMS Whitehorn Station and the clinic at the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary are being told not to bother lining up.

The line ups average five hours and the clinics close at 3:30 Friday afternoon.

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Parents, kids wait in line as flu clinics reopen

Four more H1N1 deaths in Alberta bring total to 18

Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 12:47 PM MT

CBC News


A young girl cries in anticipation of an H1N1 shot at the Olympic Oval Thursday morning. (CBC)


Cartoons, coffee and hot chocolate at the Stampede grounds may have greeted parents wanting swine flu shots for their young children, but a long lineup is forming outside a shopping mall in northwest Calgary.

Calgary's six H1N1 vaccination clinics opened Thursday morning, but only for children six months old to under five years. Proof of age, such as a birth certificate or health card, must be shown.

The clinics reopened the same day the province announced four more H1N1-related deaths ? one an adult Calgarian ?bringing the toll since April to 18.

More people are also being hospitalized due to the virus ? 439 people so far with the median age of 30. Most of the people who have died or been hospitalized had underlying conditions.

Waits of more than an hour

At the Stampede Grandstand, only about 100 people were waiting in line inside when the clinic opened at 8:30 a.m. The clinic has 100 vaccination stations and children are being given numbered wristbands to hold their spots in line.

"It's really night and day at this new vaccination clinic compared to last week when thousands of Calgarians waited in line outside for up to six hours to try and get this H1N1 vaccination shot," said CBC News reporter Erin Collins.

Vaccination clinic locations

There are six mass vaccination clinics in Calgary, open on a drop-in basis Monday to Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday to Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• Olympic Oval, 2nd floor, University of Calgary. Pay parking only.
• Stampede Grandstand. Free parking in Lots 7 and 8 at south end of Stampede Park.
• Avenida Village, 303-12445 Lake Fraser Dr. S.E.
• Brentwood Village Mall, 302-3630 Brentwood Rd. N.W.
• EMS Whitehorn, north side entrance, 100-3705 35th St. N.E.
• Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, 1820 Richmond Rd. S.W.

Alberta Health Services warns that clinic dates, hours and vaccine availability are subject to change.

"Organizers here have even provided free coffee and hot chocolate and planned to open a concession stand later today if people get hungry. To top it all off they have even tuned the TVs here to a cartoon channel."

Health officials were aiming for one-hour waits for the vaccine.
But at the Brentwood Village Mall clinic, the line at 10 a.m. was much longer and wound outside, with as many as 500 people and a wait of two or three hours.

At the nearby Olympic Oval on the University of Calgary campus, parents faced a 30-minute wait before they were given wristbands and told to return in the afternoon.

"It's moving actually pretty quickly to get your number to come back at a pre-determined time," said Realeen Giles, who brought along her two young boys.

"They said come back at 12:30, and you just proceed to where the nurses are that are doing the injections. You shouldn't have a very long wait because there is a controlled number [of people] ? coming at that pre-determined time."

Parents and children lined up both inside and outside the Brentwood Village Mall for an H1N1 shot Thursday morning. (CBC)


Lineups were also long at Avenida Village and the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre.

Last week, the clinics were open to any Albertan who wanted a swine flu shot, which targets the strain of H1N1 influenza A virus responsible for the current pandemic.

The clinics were closed by Sunday, and Alberta Health Services blamed a vaccine shortage and overwhelmed health-care workers.

On Friday, the clinics will be expanded to include pregnant women, who will be able to get a non-boosted version of the vaccine. They won't be asked to prove they are pregnant.

Vaccination of both groups will continue through the weekend and pregnant women and young children will not be turned away as other groups, such as those with chronic illnesses, are added to the eligibility list.

Clinics for health-care workers

Besides young children and pregnant women, health-care workers are once again eligible to get the H1N1 flu shot.

Last week, people who work with Alberta Health Services were being vaccinated as in hospitals, but as supply dwindled, those shots were also called off. Vaccination in hospitals resumed for health-care workers on

Tuesday, but only those who work on the front lines with patients, including community doctors and their staff.

"When we get more vaccine, we will move to a second phase for health-care workers, which would involve those that are not having that direct face-to-face contact or the hands-on care of the first group," said deputy medical officer Judy MacDonald.

More than 27,000 Calgary health-care workers have been vaccinated.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/11/05/calgary-swine-flu-h1n1-vaccine-clinics-children.html?ref=rss

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Pregnant women now offered the H1N1 shot

Updated: Fri Nov. 06 2009 11:51:32
ctvedmonton.ca

Shorter lineups were being reported at H1N1 immunization clinics across the city Friday morning despite the fact that pregnant women were added to list of eligible recipients for the flu shot.

"With babies on the way we definitely have to take care of ourselves and not get this scary flu," said mom-to-be Tara Winterbottom while waiting in line to get the flu shot Friday morning.

Starting Thursday, vaccination clinics across the city reopened after last weekend's temporary closure and targeted children six months to under five. The province has now expanded the program to include pregnant women.

And for the first time since the mass immunization campaign started, the unadjuvanted version of the vaccine is available to pregnant women because the adjuvanted version hasn't been as widely tested in expectant mothers.

But besides those two high-risk groups, Alberta Health Services said at this time the vaccine will not be available to other Albertans.

The province now has 275,000 doses of the vaccine to last until the end of next week. But Predy insists that children under five and pregnant women shouldn't rush to get the vaccine.

"We will run exclusively for these two groups until they are substantially done," said Predy.


Edmonton and area will have a total of eight H1N1 flu vaccination clinics open at the following locations:

• Commonwealth Stadium
• Millbourne Mall
• Westmount Centre
• Bonnie Doon Mall
• Rutherford Health Clinic
• Northgate Centre
• Strathcona County Health Centre
• Grandin Mall (St. Albert)

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Re: Alberta - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Police, firefighters await H1N1 vaccinations

Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009

CBC News

As much as 20 per cent of the staff at the STARS air ambulance program are off sick. (CBC)

Flu is partly to blame for a higher-than-average number of Calgary police, firefighters and air ambulance staff calling in sick.

About nine per cent of police officers are off sick, up from the usual three per cent, Chief Rick Hanson said Thursday.

"Which is disconcerting, because certainly it's higher than other years, but not surprising," Hanson said. "It hasn't affected our service delivery at this point in time.

"It's not all H1N1. And we're quite accepting of the fact that we'd rather have our folks err to the side of caution when they get sick, rather than come to work and then find out later that they did have the flu."

About 100 of the fire department's workers are sick, out of about 1,300 staff, Deputy Chief Ken Uzeloc said. The department tracks absences by platoon.

"Our highest numbers right now are about 10 per cent on one platoon and on our day staff, Uzeloc said. "And roughly about half of that is attributed directly to flu-like symptoms or influenzas."

Paramedics and medical staff have had access to the vaccine in hospitals but many are sick or staying at home to take care of ill relatives. As much as 20 per cent of the STARS air ambulance workforce is not reporting to work.

'The first-responding community should be the next in line, as we're the ones out there trying to respond to these medical conditions that people have.'?Deputy Chief Ken Uzeloc, Calgary fire department

"It has its impact. We're not immune to that," said Dr. Dennis Nesdoly, chief medical officer for the STARS program.

Tom Sampson, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said he has been asking Alberta Health for the H1N1 vaccine for other front-line emergency staff, such as police and firefighters, for more than two weeks.

The province is focusing on vaccinating young children and pregnant women, who would be most at risk if they contract H1N1.

"Now that there seems to be more of a plan, we're fully prepared to wait until those high-risk people are done," Uzeloc said. "And then we think the first-responding community should be the next in line, as we're the ones out there trying to respond to these medical conditions that people have and assist the citizens."

Hanson said he has a meeting scheduled with the assistant deputy minister in the solicitor general's office.

"I'm hoping to hear from him if we're going to get vaccines, what that priority would be, how many we'll receive," Hanson said.

The police force has surveyed its staff to identify who will need the vaccine first. Hanson said he hopes the absenteeism will stabilize after officers are inoculated.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/11/05/calgary-flu-emergency-police-firefighters-sick.html?ref=rss