Re: Simcoe County H1N1 Clinics
Source:
http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/article/151092
Seasonal flu shot offered at H1N1 clinics
December 2, 2009 - by Carli Whitwell
You can now roll up both your sleeves at the regional health unit?s public clinics.
Beginning yesterday, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is offering seasonal flu shots along with the H1N1 vaccine at all of its clinics.
?We feel we have the capacity now at the clinics to offer both,? said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, in a press conference on Friday.
It is safe to be given both shots at the same time, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, though in different arms.
And, if you haven?t already, it?s important to get both, said Gardner. Flu season, he explained, is just starting, and in addition to the H1N1 strain, which has been the dominant strain so far this season, other strains could crop up.
The seasonal flu vaccine, he said, is your defence against these.The H1N1 vaccine, meanwhile, will protect you from a possible third wave of the H1N1 virus.
?We have the whole of the winter ahead of us. We don?t know what that winter is going to be like. We do know that there are other strains of influenza that have been circulating,? he said.
While anyone over six months of age can get the vaccines, health unit staff is continuing to urge people at high risk for complications from the flu to be vaccinated.
People with chronic medical conditions, children, pregnant women, people living in long-term care homes, and people who live with or care for those who can?t be vaccinated are all in this group.
Since opening its clinics on Nov. 2, the health unit and area health-care providers have doled out 144,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine. That number represents about 30 per cent of the region?s population.
The flu season started early this year, said Gardner, with cases peaking the region in the first week of November. The number of cases was seven times greater than what you normally see at this time of year, he said..
Still, despite the intense public scrutiny and its atypical start, the flu season, so far, has been similar to years past, said Gardner
In the first two waves of the H1N1, there?s been a combined total of 81 hospitalizations in the region in comparison to the 90 seen during past flu seasons. There have been three deaths this season, while in past seasons about nine people have died.
The clinics will run four days a week ? Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays ? until Dec. 12 and are now being offered in smaller community centres such as MacTier and Dwight.
Once they are finished, some doctors will continue to offer the vaccines. For the location of the clinics, phone Your Health Connection at 1-877-721-7520 or visit
www.simcoemuskokahealth.org.
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