Sask. says H1N1 vaccinations could start next week for health workers
<DL class=author><DD class="date published">Published on October 20th, 2009 <DD class="date display_none"> <DT class=vcard>The Canadian Press </DT></DL><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> printAdTag('300x250','','');</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript1.1 src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/tc.sk/news;ss=canada_-_world;atitle=2009-10-20;pg=content;pos=but1;tile=2;sz=300x250;ord=12560 86992295?"></SCRIPT>
REGINA - Saskatchewan residents who are most at risk for H1N1 flu could get the vaccine in a couple of weeks under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the provincial government.
Dr. Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan's chief medical officer of health, says the first vaccine shipment of 56,000 doses has arrived in the province, but she adds the rollout plan depends on when the vaccine gets regulatory approval.
?If we receive authorization for the vaccine, which we hope to receive in the next few days, we will able to begin vaccinating earlier - perhaps even as early as next week,? says McKinnon.
?We will begin with health-care workers, moving into the risk groups of those with underlying health conditions, young children and pregnant women.?
McKinnon says about 120,000 people are in the high-risk categories, including First Nations and those in remote communities. People will be asked to complete a questionnaire when they go to an immunization clinic to determine if they are in a high-risk group. Shots for everyone else will follow the week of Nov. 16.
McKinnon acknowledges that vaccine already shipped to provinces is raising concerns for pregnant women. Those doses contain adjuvants, or compounds which boost the immune system's response to vaccine, allowing for smaller doses. There's no data on the use of so-called adjuvanted flu vaccine in pregnant women and McKinnon says she knows some women might be hesitant to get the shot.
?If they feel insecure about the adjuvanted (vaccine), they can wait.
They have the choice,? says McKinnon. ?Obviously for pregnant women it's a sensitive issue.?
McKinnon says doses of the non-adjuvanted vaccine are expected to arrive in mid-November. But she says pregnant women can get the adjuvanted vaccine as soon as it's available and should do so if H1N1 starts to rapidly spread.
Other countries have already begun vaccinations.
The United States has started giving swine flu shots to people in groups thought to be at greater risk, such as children and health-care workers.
Japan started its vaccinations Monday and the United Kingdom is expected to start later this week.
Saskatchewan has had five H1N1-related deaths, including that of a teenage boy earlier this month. But McKinnon says the province will not be too late in administering the vaccine as the second wave of swine flu ripples across Canada, noting that the shot provides immunity in about three to seven days.
?It would be good if we could have the vaccine today, all of the vaccine today, but we don't,? she says. ?But we do have other measures. We have public health measures and we have anti-virals.?
<DL class=author><DD class="date published">Published on October 20th, 2009 <DD class="date display_none"> <DT class=vcard>The Canadian Press </DT></DL><SCRIPT type=text/javascript> printAdTag('300x250','','');</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript1.1 src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/tc.sk/news;ss=canada_-_world;atitle=2009-10-20;pg=content;pos=but1;tile=2;sz=300x250;ord=12560 86992295?"></SCRIPT>
REGINA - Saskatchewan residents who are most at risk for H1N1 flu could get the vaccine in a couple of weeks under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the provincial government.
Dr. Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan's chief medical officer of health, says the first vaccine shipment of 56,000 doses has arrived in the province, but she adds the rollout plan depends on when the vaccine gets regulatory approval.
?If we receive authorization for the vaccine, which we hope to receive in the next few days, we will able to begin vaccinating earlier - perhaps even as early as next week,? says McKinnon.
?We will begin with health-care workers, moving into the risk groups of those with underlying health conditions, young children and pregnant women.?
McKinnon says about 120,000 people are in the high-risk categories, including First Nations and those in remote communities. People will be asked to complete a questionnaire when they go to an immunization clinic to determine if they are in a high-risk group. Shots for everyone else will follow the week of Nov. 16.
McKinnon acknowledges that vaccine already shipped to provinces is raising concerns for pregnant women. Those doses contain adjuvants, or compounds which boost the immune system's response to vaccine, allowing for smaller doses. There's no data on the use of so-called adjuvanted flu vaccine in pregnant women and McKinnon says she knows some women might be hesitant to get the shot.
?If they feel insecure about the adjuvanted (vaccine), they can wait.
They have the choice,? says McKinnon. ?Obviously for pregnant women it's a sensitive issue.?
McKinnon says doses of the non-adjuvanted vaccine are expected to arrive in mid-November. But she says pregnant women can get the adjuvanted vaccine as soon as it's available and should do so if H1N1 starts to rapidly spread.
Other countries have already begun vaccinations.
The United States has started giving swine flu shots to people in groups thought to be at greater risk, such as children and health-care workers.
Japan started its vaccinations Monday and the United Kingdom is expected to start later this week.
Saskatchewan has had five H1N1-related deaths, including that of a teenage boy earlier this month. But McKinnon says the province will not be too late in administering the vaccine as the second wave of swine flu ripples across Canada, noting that the shot provides immunity in about three to seven days.
?It would be good if we could have the vaccine today, all of the vaccine today, but we don't,? she says. ?But we do have other measures. We have public health measures and we have anti-virals.?
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