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Written by Dave Mabell Lethbridge Herald
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Wednesday, November 04 2009, 8:52 PM |
Flu vaccination clinics reopen today in southern Alberta, after nearly a week of vaccine shortage. But now the H1N1 immunization is targeted just at children from six to 59 months old.
Parents should bring an Alberta Health Card listing the child’s name, officials point out, along with proof of age. Clinics are scheduled for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the West Pavilion in Exhibition Park in Lethbridge, with shorter sessions in Milk River and Raymond.
All will be restricted to the designated groups, warns southern Alberta’s medical officer of health.
“There will be more enforcement and a better flow,” Dr. Vivien Suttorp said Wednesday.
Friday’s clinics will serve pregnant women as well as children less than five years old, she said, and they’ll run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Cardston as well as in Lethbridge.
On Saturday, they’ll serve the same two at-risk groups from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Lethbridge, Taber and Pincher Creek.
Though women will be asked to bring their health cards, Suttorp said they won’t be required to prove they’re pregnant. The H1N1 vaccinations are recommended even in the final weeks of pregnancy, she added.
Pregnant women may also attend today’s clinics, Suttorp said, but non-adjuvanted vaccine won’t be available until Friday.
Details of the rescheduled clinics came Wednesday, as nurses and physicians began examining the first clients at the city’s flu assessment centre. It will remain open daily, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., in Heritage Hall on the fairgrounds.
Staff members weren’t deluged with patients on opening morning — there were more cars in front of the casino than the clinic — but officials in Medicine Hat report the assessment centre there has taken considerable pressure off the emergency department in that city’s hospital. After it opened earlier this week, they say the number of patients heading to emergency with flu-like symptoms dropped from 80 one day to 40 the next.
As part of its pandemic plan, Suttorp said, Alberta Health is now offering anti-viral medications like Tamilflu at the assessment clinics. But she said anyone with a doctor’s prescription can now pick it up free at local drug stores. It’s not a preventive, she added, but it’s effective for symptom control.
New mothers and adults living with a chronic health concern could be the next priority in the province’s immunization campaign, Suttorp said.
“But the roll-out will be determined by our vaccine supply.”
She said doctors’ office will also have access to H1N1 vaccine — as they already have in British Columbia — when there are sufficient supplies.
Meanwhile, to enforce the government’s new targeted clinic approach, Suttorp said security staff and police officers will monitor the flu clinics. Officials heard many complaints about the previous first-come system, including queue-jumpers in the major cities.
Some clinics have been relocated, she said, to ensure inside waiting areas, more convenient access or better parking.
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