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Source: http://www.canada.com/health/Montreal+sees+record+lineups+H1N1+shots/2228991/story.html
Montreal sees record lineups for H1N1 shots
Wait times for flu vaccine reasonable, official says
By Irwin Block and Monique Beaudin, Montreal GazetteNovember 16, 2009 1:52 PM
MONTREAL ? As record numbers of Montrealers lined up for flu shots over the weekend, public-health officials said they are happy with the results ? but complaints persist about the way the mass vaccination campaign is unfolding.
On Saturday, 25,800 people were vaccinated against the H1N1 virus on Montreal Island, the biggest turnout so far, said Dr. Richard Lessard of the Montreal public health department.
On Sunday "there was a very heavy turnout," said public health department spokeswoman Laur?anne Collin. She said numbers had not yet been compiled.
"It's very encouraging," Lessard told the Montreal Gazette. "There are a lot of people showing up, but they don't have to wait very long."
Montreal has enough vaccine for 40,000 shots per day.
Last weekend, between 10,000 and 15,000 people were vaccinated on Saturday and again on Sunday, Lessard said.
Two new vaccination centres are to open Monday ? one in Montreal East, the other at the Palais des congr?s, where up to 320 people can be vaccinated every hour.
Also starting Monday, the centre at Springview Garden school in Dollard des Ormeaux will stay open until 8 p.m.
The public health department on Friday opened vaccinations to children age 5 to 19, as well as to the families of children under 5 years old.
At the vaccination centre at Olympic Stadium Sunday, more than 300 people were waiting for shots at around 1 p.m., but there were no grumbling or angry faces.
"The whole thing took about two hours and everyone was very nice ? they answered all our questions," said Demenico Chila, who along with M?lanie Bastien took their children Mia, 6, and Jacob, 8.
The facility, operating since last Monday in the west corridor of the Big O, is set up to process 300 vaccinations an hour, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"We have not had any problems," said emergency measures co-ordinator Yanick Pr?fontaine, adding that 35 nurses were on hand yesterday for patient evaluations and to give the inoculations.
Meanwhile, the association representing Quebec's retired civil servants said that people over 65 with chronic conditions should be among the priority groups for vaccinations because half the H1N1-related deaths in Quebec have been of people 60 and older.
Those vaccinations are scheduled to begin Nov. 30, and Lessard would not say whether that date might be moved forward.
"Our goal is to go as quickly as we can," he said.
Officials noted that two Montreal Island vaccination centres have seen little traffic ? Th??tre du Quartier in St. Henri and Frederick Banting School in Montreal North. Anyone living on the island may go to those centres, Lessard said.
It was a different story in Quebec City, where vaccination centres had handed out all their appointment coupons by 10:25 a.m. Sunday, health officials there reported.
This week, the province is to receive 470,000 doses ? with and without the adjuvant used to boost the vaccine, said Marie-?ve B?dard, spokesperson for Health Minister Yves Bolduc.
A decision is to be made this week about whether to offer the non-adjuvanted vaccine to groups other than pregnant women, B?dard said.
Another 120 H1N1 cases were confirmed in Montreal on Saturday, Lessard said. As of Friday, 28 people in Quebec had died of H1N1 since Aug. 30.
The public health department is to continue discussions Monday with the Education Department and the island's five school boards to finalize plans to bus school-age children to vaccination centres, Lessard said.
Other regions, including the South Shore and the Laurentians, have not yet begun to vaccinate children 5 to 19.
"We are being slowed down by the number of doses available," B?dard said. "We would like to vaccinate everyone as soon as possible."
mbeaudin@thegazette.canwest.com
iblock@thegazette.canwest.com
H1N1
Get the latest updates about the pandemic, the government's response and the resources at your disposal at
montrealgazette.com/health/swine-flu
Monday's Montreal Island vaccination schedule:
- All pregnant women
(vaccine without adjuvant available)
- Anyone under 65 with a chronic illness, defined as: heart ailments; lung illnesses such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Also: diabetes, liver diseases like cirrhosis, and kidney and blood disorders.
- Children 6 months to 5 years and their families
- Families of immunosuppressed people
- Children 5 to 19
- Parents and siblings of infants younger than 6 months
For updated schedules in Montreal and elsewhere, consult these Quebec government sites:
- http://vaccination.msss.gouv.qc.ca
- pandemiequebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/index.aspx@sujet=143.html
The Gazette's clickable Google map of vaccination sites: http://tinyurl.com/yjrjsly
For information by phone: 514-644-4545 or 1-877-644-4545
Montreal sees record lineups for H1N1 shots
Wait times for flu vaccine reasonable, official says
By Irwin Block and Monique Beaudin, Montreal GazetteNovember 16, 2009 1:52 PM
MONTREAL ? As record numbers of Montrealers lined up for flu shots over the weekend, public-health officials said they are happy with the results ? but complaints persist about the way the mass vaccination campaign is unfolding.
On Saturday, 25,800 people were vaccinated against the H1N1 virus on Montreal Island, the biggest turnout so far, said Dr. Richard Lessard of the Montreal public health department.
On Sunday "there was a very heavy turnout," said public health department spokeswoman Laur?anne Collin. She said numbers had not yet been compiled.
"It's very encouraging," Lessard told the Montreal Gazette. "There are a lot of people showing up, but they don't have to wait very long."
Montreal has enough vaccine for 40,000 shots per day.
Last weekend, between 10,000 and 15,000 people were vaccinated on Saturday and again on Sunday, Lessard said.
Two new vaccination centres are to open Monday ? one in Montreal East, the other at the Palais des congr?s, where up to 320 people can be vaccinated every hour.
Also starting Monday, the centre at Springview Garden school in Dollard des Ormeaux will stay open until 8 p.m.
The public health department on Friday opened vaccinations to children age 5 to 19, as well as to the families of children under 5 years old.
At the vaccination centre at Olympic Stadium Sunday, more than 300 people were waiting for shots at around 1 p.m., but there were no grumbling or angry faces.
"The whole thing took about two hours and everyone was very nice ? they answered all our questions," said Demenico Chila, who along with M?lanie Bastien took their children Mia, 6, and Jacob, 8.
The facility, operating since last Monday in the west corridor of the Big O, is set up to process 300 vaccinations an hour, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"We have not had any problems," said emergency measures co-ordinator Yanick Pr?fontaine, adding that 35 nurses were on hand yesterday for patient evaluations and to give the inoculations.
Meanwhile, the association representing Quebec's retired civil servants said that people over 65 with chronic conditions should be among the priority groups for vaccinations because half the H1N1-related deaths in Quebec have been of people 60 and older.
Those vaccinations are scheduled to begin Nov. 30, and Lessard would not say whether that date might be moved forward.
"Our goal is to go as quickly as we can," he said.
Officials noted that two Montreal Island vaccination centres have seen little traffic ? Th??tre du Quartier in St. Henri and Frederick Banting School in Montreal North. Anyone living on the island may go to those centres, Lessard said.
It was a different story in Quebec City, where vaccination centres had handed out all their appointment coupons by 10:25 a.m. Sunday, health officials there reported.
This week, the province is to receive 470,000 doses ? with and without the adjuvant used to boost the vaccine, said Marie-?ve B?dard, spokesperson for Health Minister Yves Bolduc.
A decision is to be made this week about whether to offer the non-adjuvanted vaccine to groups other than pregnant women, B?dard said.
Another 120 H1N1 cases were confirmed in Montreal on Saturday, Lessard said. As of Friday, 28 people in Quebec had died of H1N1 since Aug. 30.
The public health department is to continue discussions Monday with the Education Department and the island's five school boards to finalize plans to bus school-age children to vaccination centres, Lessard said.
Other regions, including the South Shore and the Laurentians, have not yet begun to vaccinate children 5 to 19.
"We are being slowed down by the number of doses available," B?dard said. "We would like to vaccinate everyone as soon as possible."
mbeaudin@thegazette.canwest.com
iblock@thegazette.canwest.com
H1N1
Get the latest updates about the pandemic, the government's response and the resources at your disposal at
montrealgazette.com/health/swine-flu
Monday's Montreal Island vaccination schedule:
- All pregnant women
(vaccine without adjuvant available)
- Anyone under 65 with a chronic illness, defined as: heart ailments; lung illnesses such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Also: diabetes, liver diseases like cirrhosis, and kidney and blood disorders.
- Children 6 months to 5 years and their families
- Families of immunosuppressed people
- Children 5 to 19
- Parents and siblings of infants younger than 6 months
For updated schedules in Montreal and elsewhere, consult these Quebec government sites:
- http://vaccination.msss.gouv.qc.ca
- pandemiequebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/index.aspx@sujet=143.html
The Gazette's clickable Google map of vaccination sites: http://tinyurl.com/yjrjsly
For information by phone: 514-644-4545 or 1-877-644-4545