Clinics closed
Will reopen soon with new plan to target vaccine at high-risk groups

By ALYSSA NOEL, SHAWN LOGAN, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 1st November 2009, 5:03am

The province has shut down all H1N1 vaccine clinics for at least a day in the wake of shortages across the country, health officials announced yesterday.

The clinics are expected to reopen tomorrow or early Tuesday with a strict screening process in place to weed out those who aren't in the high-risk group, said Dr. Gerry Predy, medical officer of health for the province.

"We're asking people to be calm. There will be more vaccine. There will be enough for everyone who wants it," he said.

CLINICS OVERWHELMED

Initially, clinics were scheduled to run until Nov. 13. It's not clear how long they will now remain open.

Yesterday's surprise announcement came hours after the Edmonton area's seven clinics were overwhelmed with long lineups, forcing them to stop accepting new patients by 12:30 p.m.

There were no details available yesterday on how people will be screened at clinics.

Predy said officials will be working throughout the weekend, looking at provinces that have had screening in place, in order to come up with a plan.

When clinics opened last Monday, Predy told reporters that officials were asking only high-risk people to get the shot but didn't do any screening because it would eat up too much time, snarling long lines even further.

At-risk groups include pregnant women, children six months to less than five years old, people under 65 with chronic health problems, people living in remote communities and health-care workers.

"In retrospect, we still think it was the right thing to do given the information we had," Predy said.

More than 300,000 Albertans have been vaccinated in just a week with a supply of more than 600,000 doses, he added.

But with an expected reduced shipment coming this week, the province decided to revamp its approach.

"We still have enough vaccine to carry through with the (high-risk-only) vaccination campaign," Predy said.

Meanwhile, critics charged the province dropped the ball by not screening for those most in need of H1N1 shots right off the bat.

ANSWERS DEMANDED

After a week of long lines and confusion over who should be eligible for the vaccine in the first days of the campaign, the move to limit flu shots to only at-risk groups has Liberal Leader David Swann demanding answers.

"They failed to prioritize the most in need: the vulnerable people at risk of serious illness and death and they need to answer for that," said Swann, who spent the day visiting people waiting in line for the shot at the Brentwood clinic in Calgary.

"They opened up the floodgates and that was inappropriate."

Swann said the province has been working on its pandemic plan for a decade and one of its main tenets was to identify and treat those most at risk of contracting a virus first before targeting the general population.

Instead, the province opened mass immunization centres, relying on the goodwill of Albertans to stay home unless they fit the profile outlined for those most at risk of succumbing to the virus.

So far, the virus has been responsible for 14 deaths in Alberta.

"They need to let the health professionals take over and get the funding they need to get all the proper resources in place to do this right," Swann said.

David Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, said the province didn't clearly communicate its plans and now people most in need of the vaccine are paying the price.

"My main concern is how they chose to get the message out there about who should get that shot," he said.

"The government seems to be contradicting Alberta Health Services and saying everybody should get the shot when obviously there are a number of high-risk people who should be the priority."

For more information, visit albertahealthservices.ca.

ALYSSA.NOEL@SUNMEDIA.CA