Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

[Pathfinder]

Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says
Ontario's former chief medical officer says flu shots to come too late

Caroline Alphonso
Toronto ? From Friday's Globe and Mail
Last updated on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 4:08AM EDT

Canadians will get the pandemic influenza vaccination too late because health authorities squandered time by directing the country's vaccine manufacturer to produce seasonal flu shots instead of filling H1N1 vials, Ontario's former chief medical officer of health says.

Richard Schabas has never been one to sit on the sidelines. And Thursday he criticized the federal government for waiting till early November to roll out the pandemic vaccine, while other countries, including the United States, Australia and China, have already begun inoculating their residents against swine flu.

Dr. Schabas said what is particularly troubling is that Canadian health authorities asked GlaxoSmithKline, which is contracted to produce the country's pandemic flu vaccine at its plant in Ste-Foy, Que., to fill seasonal flu vials before starting production on the H1N1 vaccine. The plant finished producing seasonal flu shots at the end of August, and then began making the H1N1 vaccine.

?I think that was clearly a mistake,? said Dr. Schabas, medical officer of health for the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit.

Canada's chief public-health officer, David Butler-Jones, has said the H1N1 virus is not as severe as expected nor is it spreading quickly in this country. Most illness has been mild. But some doctors, including Dr. Schabas, are seeing more influenza cases ? and no vaccine is available yet.

??We're seeing significant H1N1 activity, particularly on the west coast. But we're starting to see it in Ontario, too,? Dr. Schabas said. ?We expect that we're going to be seeing an early flu season with lots of activity and maybe even an outbreak peaking around the time that we get the vaccine, which means we're getting the vaccine too late.?

Based on the flu season that just ended in the southern hemisphere, where H1N1 was the dominant strain, Dr. Schabas said health authorities should have readjusted their vaccine production plans: Produce only a small quantity of seasonal flu vaccine and then immediately switch to H1N1.

?If that were the case, we'd have it by now,? he added.

GSK's European factory in Dresden, Germany, has started shipping H1N1 vaccine because it has two production plants and could make pandemic vaccine at the same time as the seasonal flu product. The Quebec plant has only one facility to make both vaccines.

A federal Health Ministry spokesman said yesterday that the decision to produce seasonal flu vaccine first and then H1N1 was made in July, and based on the ?best medical advice? available. ?At the time of the decision, it was not clear that the H1N1 virus was the dominant flu virus strain,? the spokesman said in an e-mail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ccine-plan-health-expert-says/article1317825/

 

[North44]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says
Ontario's former chief medical officer says flu shots to come too late

A federal Health Ministry spokesman said yesterday that the decision to produce seasonal flu vaccine first and then H1N1 was made in July, and based on the ?best medical advice? available. ?At the time of the decision, it was not clear that the H1N1 virus was the dominant flu virus strain,? the spokesman said in an e-mail.

All they had to do was observe what was going on in the southern hemisphere. Did any other government make this same decision? I am not aware of any.

 

[Dark Horse]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

All they had to do was observe what was going on in the southern hemisphere. Did any other government make this same decision? I am not aware of any.

The US government made the very same decisions which is why the pandemic vaccine is a too little too late.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

Didn't the WHO put pressure on drug makers in July for them to finish their seasonal flu vaccines first, stating not to underestimate seasonal flu?

 

[Hogweed]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

Yes WHO oriented the Big Pharma and their Government dependencies.

May Canada continue to drag its feet on the Glaxo-Smith-Kline Adjuvant vaccine until it is put into the garbage, do not give this adjuvant to poor countries it would indeed look like ethnic cleansing.

So Dr Schu chat , ok thank you for promoting swift H1N1 but you forget to mentionned to boycott the adjuvanted version like they do in Germany and France.

Thank you

Snowy Owl

Just to be clear. If the only choice people are offered is between an adjuvanted vaccine or nothing are you recommending nothing? Is that FT policy?

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

FluTrackers Policy on Novel H1N1 Vaccination:


We are requesting all persons to contact their medical practitioners in regards to the Novel H1N1 vaccine.

We feel your questions can best be answered by those professionals who are in your life and know your medical history.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

I am old enough to know the good about some vaccines polio for example.

I am against adjuvanted vaccines towards H1N1 now, YES INDEED.

Snowy Owl

Hogweed FluTrackers is much much larger than any of its member.

That is our difference, we are open mind without our Mind dropping on the Ground, we are not sold, we are devoted and just Humanitarians.

I hope this answers your questions.

Harfang des Neiges

 

[North44]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

The US government made the very same decisions which is why the pandemic vaccine is a too little too late.

Actually, the US was smart enough to ask for the H1N1 vaccine as soon as possible. It is already available, in limited quantities, south of the border. Our government asked that the seasonal flu be supplied first, followed by the H1N1 vaccine. Thus, H1N1 vaccine won't be available in Canada till next month. By then, H1N1 should have a nice grip on the country.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Blunder endangers H1N1 vaccine plan, health expert says

Butler-Jones defends swine flu vaccine decisions

By: CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Mon. Oct. 12 2009 1:43 PM ET

Canada's chief public health officer is defending Ottawa's decision not to halt production on seasonal flu vaccine to accelerate production of the vaccine against swine flu.

Dr. David Butler-Jones says the decision to finish off seasonal flu vaccine production before beginning to produce swine flu vaccine was made months ago and was based on the information officials had at the time.

"The WHO asked all manufacturers to finish off their seasonal vaccine first. That's because in Canada, 4,000 people die on average every year from seasonal flu," he explained to CTV's Question Period on Sunday.

He noted that at the time of the decision, his team of experts looked at the flu's activity in the southern hemisphere, and what they saw was both seasonal flu strains and the swine flu strain circulating widely and causing deaths.

So, he said, they decided not to put the brakes on seasonal flu vaccine production to ensure that those Canadians vulnerable to seasonal flu -- generally, those over the age of 65 and well as those with compromised immune systems -- would be protected.

"The problem is if you switch over -- and we're talking about a week or two, we're not talking about months of difference -- if you switch over to H1N1, stop the seasonal flu, you can't go back," Butler-Jones said.

"So that was the decision at the time, and if we could do things -- I mean if the pandemic was started somewhere else, if we'd known about it years in advance or months in advance -- or we'd known what we knew today back then, then I think we would be further ahead than we are now. But you could never have known that," he said.

He noted that in the U.S., emerging evidence suggests that 10 per cent of the flu strains circulating are seasonal flu strains, so those vulnerable to seasonal flu are still at risk.

"It's not an either/or equation. It's not like you can protect against one and nothing else will happen," he said.

While there have been swine flu clusters in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and elsewhere, Canada is not seeing the large outbreaks being seen in the southern United States, he noted.

And although it will still be a few weeks before the swine flu vaccine is available, when it does arrive, Canada will be uniquely positioned to offer it to every citizen who wants it, he said.

"We know we can start the immunization program by the beginning of November. We will then rapidly be able to immunize everybody in this country," he said.

"By the time Christmas comes around, our hope is, and our expectation is that every Canadian who wishes to be immunized will be," he said, adding that every Canadian should get the vaccine -- if not to protect themselves, then to protect those around them at risk.

VIDEO LINK:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091012/vaccine_QP_091012/20091012?hub=Health