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Two vaccines available for one visit |
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Written by Dave Mabell Lethbridge Herald
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Thursday, 03 December 2009 |
The lines are shorter, but thousands of southern Albertans are still rolling up their sleeves for flu shots.
Now people are offered two vaccines on the same visit — H1N1 as well as seasonal flu — and southern Alberta’s medical officer of health reports the process has speeded up.
“Our line management has significantly improved,” says Dr. Viven Suttorp. “Most people only take 15 or 20 minutes.”
With more than 80,000 doses already administered across the south, Suttorp says the crunch is over. About 800 people visited a Lethbridge clinic earlier this week, she points out, compared with nearly 11,000 who turned up for clinics at Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and a handful of smaller centres on the peak day in November.
The number of people being treated for H1N1 flu in southern Alberta hospitals has also dropped, she adds. But there’s still a “third wave” for H1N1 predicted in the new year.
“It’s still very much recommended that people get the vaccine,” Suttorp stresses. “We really want to limit the impact of the third wave.”
With seasonal flu vaccine available once again, she hopes people who fall into the usual higher-risk groups — children, seniors and people living with chronic conditions — will come in for those shots as well. Both vaccines are available today in Milk River (1-6 p.m. in Heritage Hall).
The next clinic in Lethbridge, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, will be the last held at Exhibition Park. Starting Tuesday, those clinics will move downtown to the former Petcetera location in Park Place and they’ll likely run until close to Christmas, Suttorp says.
Weekly clinics at outlying communities are expected to continue as well, she adds. They’re still reporting strong support.
Some doctors’ offices are now offering flu shots, she says, but the public clinics will remain open as long as there’s a demand.
“We still need to offer mass vaccination clinics.”
In Ottawa, one of the nation’s top health officials again urged Canadians to get protected. Dr. David Butler-Jones, the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, warned many more Canadians may become ill or even die of the H1N1 strain this winter even though its “second wave” has peaked for now.
“We’re trying to be very careful,” he told reporters. “We won’t know if we’ve reached a peak in flu activity until we’re clearly on the other side of it.”
Children under five have had the highest rate of admission to intensive care units with H1N1 flu this fall, he reported, with adults 45 to 64 the next highest group.
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