Yukon - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

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H1N1 vaccine rolls out in N.W.T., Yukon next week


Wed Oct 21, 3:25 PM

People in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories can get the H1N1 influenza vaccine starting next week, health officials in both territories said Wednesday.

Vaccines for the virus that causes swine flu will be made available to everyone aged six months and up, free of charge, in flu clinics that start Monday:

Schedules for flu shot clinics were released hours after federal regulators approved the use of the H1N1 vaccine in Canada on Wednesday.

Special week-long flu shot clinics will be set up in the territorial capitals of Whitehorse and Yellowknife throughout next week:

Vaccination clinics in N.W.T. communities outside Yellowknife will take place throughout next week and the month of November. Schedules have been posted on the Health Department's website.

In Yukon communities outside Whitehorse, flu shots will be made available at local health centres at dates to be announced.

In the Yukon, chief medical officer Dr. Brendan Hanley said he hopes more people will get the H1N1 vaccine. In the past, only one of every four Yukoners received seasonal flu shots, he said.

"This is a different influenza. This is an influenza that has been affecting younger people," Hanley told reporters in Whitehorse.

"If we do see steadily increasing H1N1 influenza [cases] as elsewhere, that does put essentially everyone at risk."

Health officials in the Northwest Territories say they are offering the H1N1 vaccine only at this time, and will offer the seasonal flu shot separately

The H1N1 virus has spread to 25 of the N.W.T.'s 33 communities and is the dominant flu strain in the territory.

Health officials in Nunavut are expected to unveil that territory's H1N1 mass vaccination plans on Thursday morning.

Chief medical officer Dr. Isaac Sobol has previously said vaccinations would start in November, and the vaccine will be offered to all Nunavummiut who want it.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/091021/canada/canada_north_north_h1n1_vaccine

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Re: Yukon - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

October 21, 2009

WHITEHORSE ? Yukon health centres will begin administering the H1N1 vaccine on October 26, Health and Social Services Minister Glenn Hart announced today.

Health Canada authorized the release of the vaccine today, and Canada?s medical officers of health followed by endorsing use of the vaccine in their own jurisdictions.

?I am pleased at the speed with which federal authorities moved to obtain, test and release the vaccine,? Yukon Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley said. ?As Yukon is starting to see a rise in influenza, the timing for protecting Yukoners could hardly be better.

The seasonal flu vaccine will be offered at the same time as the H1N1 flu vaccine, for convenience to Yukoners.

?Yukon is ready to start administering the doses,? Hart added. ?We have 55,000 doses on hand, enough to vaccinate every Yukoner who wants or needs the vaccine, and we are encouraging all Yukoners to get vaccinated.?

The H1N1 vaccine was produced by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline at its Quebec plant.

The H1N1 immunization campaign will start unrolling in community health centres starting on Monday, October 26. Clinic dates, locations and times will be advertised in newspapers and on the Health and Social Services web site at www.hss.gov.yk.ca.

Contact:

Roxanne Vallevand
Cabinet Communications
867-633-7949
roxanne.vallevand[at]gov.yk.ca

Dr. Brendan Hanley
Medical Officer of Health
867-456-6136

Marcelle Dub?
Communications, Health & Social Services
867-667-3010
marcelle.dube[at]gov.yk.ca

http://www.nationtalk.ca/modules/news/article.php?storyid=24807

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Re: Yukon - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

Almost 14,000 Yukoners have been vaccinated

Close to two weeks after the territorial government started doling out the H1N1 shot, 13,851 Yukoners have been vaccinated.

By Stephanie Waddell on November 6, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Close to two weeks after the territorial government started doling out the H1N1 shot, 13,851 Yukoners have been vaccinated.

Health officials are pleased with the numbers, which mean that just over 40 per cent of the population has been vaccinated as of last night.

However, officials are also encouraging those who haven?t got the shot to make their way to a clinic, spokeswoman Michelle Boleen said this morning.

This may be the time to get the vaccine for those who want it, but were avoiding the lengthy lineups last week when it was first released.

?The numbers are fairly steady, but the lines aren?t as long,? Boleen said.

At the Canada Games Centre ? the main clinic site in Whitehorse ? wait times are down to about a half-hour in some cases.

That compares to 1 1/2 to two hours residents were waiting there last week to get the shot.

To help residents deal with the long waits, the Games Centre has been handing out free passes for those coming to the clinics so they can use the centre while they wait for their number to be called.

In total, the Yukon has seen eight people who have had H1N1 admitted to hospital.

Of those, three were sent to Vancouver, with one child dying from pneumonia linked to H1N1. The other two were sent Outside for other reasons before the lab results came back showing they also had H1N1.

All other patients with confirmed cases have since been released from hospital.

Vaccination clinics are continuing in Whitehorse today at the Canada Games Centre until 7 p.m. and the Elijah Smith Building until 5 p.m. Vaccinations were also available this morning at the Kwanlin Dun Health Centre.

The vaccine will continue to be available at the Canada Games Centre tomorrow from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and next week from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. weekdays except Wednesday.

Many of the clinics in the communities are wrapping up today, though some will continue through next week, including:

? in Beaver Creek at the post office on Monday and the White River First Nation on Tuesday, both from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.;

? in Ross River at the health centre on Nov.18 and 25 as well into next month on Dec. 2, 9 and 16; and

? in Watson Lake at the hospital from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. through the week, above the post office on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. until Nov. 30, in the rec plex on Nov. 11 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and again on Nov. 28 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the health centre on
Nov. 12 and 13 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., and at Watson Lake Signpost Seniors facility from 10:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

Clinics continuing in communities later this afternoon include:

? at health centres in Beaver Creek, Haines Junction and Faro until 4 p.m.;

? in Dawson City at the Downtown Hotel until 5 p.m.;

? in Mayo at the health centre until 3 p.m.; and

? in Old Crow at the health centre until 4:30 p.m.

http://whitehorsestar.com/archive/story/almost-14000-yukoners-have-been-vaccinated/

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Re: Yukon - Novel H1N1 Vaccine Availability

H1N1 vaccine surplus expected in Yukon

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | 4:46 PM CT

CBC News


Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon's medical officer of health, is encouraging people who have not yet received the H1N1 flu vaccine to get it, in case a second flu wave develops this winter. (CBC)

Health officials in the Yukon are figuring out what to do with an anticipated surplus of the H1N1 influenza vaccine.

About 53 per cent of Yukoners have been vaccinated against swine flu since a mass immunization program began in late October, but there are more than enough H1N1 vaccine doses left for anyone who has not received it yet.

"At the moment, we can be confident that we have enough to offer to anyone that needs it and wants it," Dr. Brendan Hanley, the territory's medical officer of health, told CBC News on Tuesday.

"We will end up with excess vaccine, but it's too early to say how much excess vaccine we'll have because we haven't finished vaccinating yet."

Hanley's remarks came after health officials in Nunavut reported having 5,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine leftover from its own immunization blitz in November, in which 60 per cent of that territory's population got the shot.

National discussions

Hanley said any vaccine doses that are confirmed as surplus could be used in next season's flu vaccine, or given to countries with vaccine shortages.

"We are participating in the national discussions ... of when we do reach for a point where we can say with confidence we have an excess, then what are the options?" he said.

While Hanley said it's too early to tell how much surplus vaccine there will be in the Yukon, he said there will be a surplus even if all eligible Yukoners get vaccinated.

That is because the Yukon and the other northern territories ordered enough doses of the vaccine to ensure most or all of the general population can have access to it.

Even though the Yukon's H1N1 mass vaccination campaign wrapped up months ago, Hanley said he's still encouraging people to get the shot in order to lessen the impact of a possible swine flu wave that could come later this winter.

"I feel we need to vaccinate substantially more to be sure of not getting an impact from a second wave of flu which could come later in the winter," he said.

Swine flu was cited in three deaths in the Yukon last year. In two of those cases, Hanley has said swine flu was not the cause of death, but the patients did test positive for the H1N1 virus.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/01/05/yukon-vaccine-surplus.html