James Haggerstone grins and bears the flu shot, administered by Public Health Nurse Heather Ouellette at yesterday's clinic at the Northern Interior Health Unit    250News photo

Prince George, BC – Responding to public demand, Northern Health offered up two extra flu shot clinics in Prince George late this week…

Public Health Nursing Program Manager, Carolyn Bouchard, says the Thursday evening clinic was extremely busy with lots of families with children coming in for the vaccine.  Yesterday's full-day clinic was steady in the morning and picked up considerably during the noon-hour.

Bouchard says a previously scheduled clinic is set for next Friday afternoon, but Northern Health officials will assess on Monday whether to offer additional clinics. (The remaining scheduled public clinics are set for January 17, 24, 31 between 1-3:45pm on the 2nd floor of the NIHU)

"We've been fielding a lot of calls all week long," says Bouchard.  "Asking about the vaccine – various things, like: 'I've had my flu shot, does the vaccine contain the H1N1?' Yes, it does. 'Where can I get a flu shot?' 'Am I eligible?'"

Last week, health officials in the Lower Mainland said as many as 20 people were in intensive care because of the H1N1 flu virus and it was confirmed earlier this week that a woman in her 50s died in the Okanagan after contracting the H1N1 influenza virus.

Bouchard says H1N1 has been included in the flu vaccine since it was declared a pandemic in 2009.  "Since then, we've been doing our level best to try and get people to take the vaccine up, but it's like anything, people almost need a push for it to be made a priority," she says.  "And people are making it a priority now."

While BC's Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, has said it is possible provincial supply of 1.4-million doses of the vaccine could be exhausted this year, Bouchard says, "We're doing okay for now.  We do have people that are asking for it – pharmacists, physicians, and we're trying to distribute it around the north to ensure that our smaller communities have enough, too."

The vaccine has always been available to those over 65 years of age, children under five, and anybody between the ages of six-months and 64-years with a chronic illness.  In the last few years, the eligibility has been expanded to include Aboriginal peoples, those with a body mass index over 40, and, this year, those who attend to or visit someone in a health care facility, like an acute care hospital.  "So, if you have somebody to visit in UHNBC, then you really need to think about getting a flu vaccine before you go there."