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IF YOU COULD do it over again, would you do anything differently?
Strang offers up hindsight on H1N1 By MARILLA STEPHENSON
I asked that question Wednesday about Nova Scotia?s rollout of the H1N1 vaccination program. I addressed it to our chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang.
"No, not really," he said in an interview.
The man at the forefront of this province?s first mass inoculation program went on to explain that the focus early in the campaign was on trying to convince Nova Scotians to get the shot, not trying to explain why so many of them couldn?t get it as soon as they wanted.
"We were firmly anticipating an underwhelming demand."
But he did go on to say that if provincial health officials knew at the outset what they know now, particularly about public demand and the flow of vaccine from federal officials, a few things just might change.
"There were some mistakes," he said, pointing to how some clinics operated in some of the district health authorities.
On Wednesday, he announced the seventh death in the province from the disease. I asked whether any of the seven, particularly those who died most recently, had received the vaccine.
Given that everyone in the province is being aggressively encouraged to get the shot, it makes sense to have a comfort level about its effectiveness. He could not confirm that none of the victims had been inoculated but said it was unlikely.
"Not to my knowledge," said Strang.
Most of them, he noted, fit into a risk group (adults under 65 with underlying conditions) to whom the vaccine only became broadly available three weeks ago. The sixth victim was a healthy adult male who would only have qualified for a shot two weeks ago, he said.
It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to become fully effective, and Strang also pointed out that most of the victims had been quite ill for a number of days before their deaths.
Well, shucks, what if the vaccine had been available sooner to more people? In particular, adults with chronic conditions, which data now shows are the highest risk group for death?
On Tuesday, The Canadian Press released a chart that indicated this province was second-last in Canada in terms of the percentage of the population that had received inoculations.
The chart indicated that the national percentage was quite high, by world standards, at 32 per cent, and that Canada is probably at or near the top in terms of efforts among countries to inoculate their citizens.
But the chart indicates Nova Scotia nearly at rock bottom among the provinces and territories. It says Nova Scotia is second-last with 26 per cent of our province inoculated, trailed only by the massive population of Ontario at 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador has managed to vaccinate 46 per cent of its population, while both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have provided shots to 40 per cent of their residents.
Strang disputed the numbers Wednesday, saying the report was using out-of-date data. Based on more recent information and assuming that the vaccine that has been distributed to some doctors? offices is "going into people?s arms," the Nova Scotia percentage is 38.6 per cent.
That may be true now. But if the numbers were out of date for this province, they could well be a little behind for the other provinces, which could have an equalizing impact on the standings.
And that could mean we?re still at or near the bottom in terms of the percentage of Nova Scotians who are inoculated, compared to other provinces.
Even if Strang?s position on the numbers is correct, we are still slightly trailing New Brunswick and P.E.I., and well behind Newfoundland and Labrador.
The CP report indicated that in provinces where the vaccine had only recently become available to all residents, the percentages are likely to climb higher.
But there were also reports this week of some Nova Scotia seniors being discouraged from seeking the shot because of ill health and long waits at clinics.
Strang says he is still generally satisfied with the inoculation program, given that "it?s a steep learning curve" and this is the first time such a massive program has been attempted in the province. "We?ve never done this before," he concluded.
And there is no argument with that.
Strang offers up hindsight on H1N1 By MARILLA STEPHENSON
I asked that question Wednesday about Nova Scotia?s rollout of the H1N1 vaccination program. I addressed it to our chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang.
"No, not really," he said in an interview.
The man at the forefront of this province?s first mass inoculation program went on to explain that the focus early in the campaign was on trying to convince Nova Scotians to get the shot, not trying to explain why so many of them couldn?t get it as soon as they wanted.
"We were firmly anticipating an underwhelming demand."
But he did go on to say that if provincial health officials knew at the outset what they know now, particularly about public demand and the flow of vaccine from federal officials, a few things just might change.
"There were some mistakes," he said, pointing to how some clinics operated in some of the district health authorities.
On Wednesday, he announced the seventh death in the province from the disease. I asked whether any of the seven, particularly those who died most recently, had received the vaccine.
Given that everyone in the province is being aggressively encouraged to get the shot, it makes sense to have a comfort level about its effectiveness. He could not confirm that none of the victims had been inoculated but said it was unlikely.
"Not to my knowledge," said Strang.
Most of them, he noted, fit into a risk group (adults under 65 with underlying conditions) to whom the vaccine only became broadly available three weeks ago. The sixth victim was a healthy adult male who would only have qualified for a shot two weeks ago, he said.
It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to become fully effective, and Strang also pointed out that most of the victims had been quite ill for a number of days before their deaths.
Well, shucks, what if the vaccine had been available sooner to more people? In particular, adults with chronic conditions, which data now shows are the highest risk group for death?
On Tuesday, The Canadian Press released a chart that indicated this province was second-last in Canada in terms of the percentage of the population that had received inoculations.
The chart indicated that the national percentage was quite high, by world standards, at 32 per cent, and that Canada is probably at or near the top in terms of efforts among countries to inoculate their citizens.
But the chart indicates Nova Scotia nearly at rock bottom among the provinces and territories. It says Nova Scotia is second-last with 26 per cent of our province inoculated, trailed only by the massive population of Ontario at 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador has managed to vaccinate 46 per cent of its population, while both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have provided shots to 40 per cent of their residents.
Strang disputed the numbers Wednesday, saying the report was using out-of-date data. Based on more recent information and assuming that the vaccine that has been distributed to some doctors? offices is "going into people?s arms," the Nova Scotia percentage is 38.6 per cent.
That may be true now. But if the numbers were out of date for this province, they could well be a little behind for the other provinces, which could have an equalizing impact on the standings.
And that could mean we?re still at or near the bottom in terms of the percentage of Nova Scotians who are inoculated, compared to other provinces.
Even if Strang?s position on the numbers is correct, we are still slightly trailing New Brunswick and P.E.I., and well behind Newfoundland and Labrador.
The CP report indicated that in provinces where the vaccine had only recently become available to all residents, the percentages are likely to climb higher.
But there were also reports this week of some Nova Scotia seniors being discouraged from seeking the shot because of ill health and long waits at clinics.
Strang says he is still generally satisfied with the inoculation program, given that "it?s a steep learning curve" and this is the first time such a massive program has been attempted in the province. "We?ve never done this before," he concluded.
And there is no argument with that.
