Health unit waits for vaccine

Author: Leigh Blenkhorn

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Leigh Blenkhorn

Public Health Nurse Nicole McDonald gives a seasonal flu shot to Mary Newton during one of the health unit’s flu-shot clinics. The health unit is still waiting for the H1N1 vaccine.

Staffing, clinic locations and dates have all been arranged for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s H1N1 vaccination clinics. Now all they need is the vaccine. “The vaccine has been deployed to the provinces, some two million doses according to the information that we have received,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health for the health unit. “It isn’t in the health units at the moment.” The vaccine only received formal approval from the government on Wednesday, until then it had been held back by the province. Colin Lee, Associate Medical Officer of Health for the health unit, said the approval is a normal regulatory process. “The vaccine will not be given to anyone before approval happens,” he said. “Positioning of the vaccine before approval would seem to be a logical thing to do, given the largeness of the country.” Canada will provide two types of the H1N1 vaccine to its citizens, an adjuvanted version, and an unadjuvanted version. “Adjuvant is a molecule, or chemical, that is attached to the vaccine,” Lee said. “It allows the dose of the vaccine to be less, but provide the same kind of response for the person being vaccinated. Canada is able to make more doses of vaccine from the same amount. This is a common method in other vaccines, but new to influenza.” Lee said typically adjuvanted vaccines provide a better immune response to the person being vaccinated, even with a small dose. The adjuvanted vaccine helps Canada reach its goal of providing the most vaccine in as short amount of time as possible. The unadjuvanted vaccine will be given to pregnant women as a precaution. “There is no reason to believe adjuvanted vaccine is not safe for everyone, but as a precaution Canada has ordered just under two-million doses of unadjuvanted as an option,” Lee said. The health unit has scheduled its first H1N1 vaccination clinic for Nov. 3, if they have not yet received the vaccine, the dates will be pushed back. During the vaccination clinics almost all of the health unit’s 150 fulltime nurses and 40 casual nurses will be redeployed to the clinics. Bill Mindell, director of clinical service for the health unit, said approximately 90 per cent of their other, non-nursing, staff will be working on the clinic as well. “The rest of the nurses will remain for Health Connection answering phones. We are maintaining our school vaccination programs, and we have to maintain a list of essential services that we do that no on else does,” he said. Normal programs that will be affected include the school immunization review process, oral health in schools, family health service nurses, and car seat clinics will be cancelled. According to the health unit the H1N1 influenza has been slightly worse compared to seasonal flu. Governments have been watching the southern hemisphere during their winter — our summer — to help predict what’s in store for us. Gardner explains data shows that H1N1 cases were highest among children and young adults. Young children were hospitalized at levels comparable to previous flu seasons. “The hospitalization is reduced in seniors, mortality is reduced in seniors compared with previous seasons,” he said. “Other age groups appear to be harder hit for both hospitalizations and for mortality and Intensive Care Unit admissions is greatly increased compared to previous years.” ICU admissions in New Zealand and Australia increased 15 times during the flu season compared with the previous season. “That is quite a substantial finding and quite worrisome,” Gardner said. “I think it speaks to the potential for severe disease in middle aged and young adults.” Information on H1N1 clinics will be posted on the health unit’s website and made available to the public as soon as locations and dates are finalized. The clinics will feature a new electronic information system. Nurses will ask the usual questions, but information will be entered in computer so province can track all the data on the clinics automatically. Six clinics will be held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at different locations. Some clinics will be open on Saturdays. For more information, call 721-7520 or visit www.simcoemuskokahealth.org.