H1N1 Vaccinations To Start In Earnest Next Week In North

By 250 News

Prince George – Northern Health says the H1N1 Flu vaccine is in the hands of some physicians today but unlike the urban centers where the inoculations began today,

logistics may prevent Northern Health from achieving that until next week.

Dr David Bowering, Northern Health Chief Medical Health Officer says the fact that many of the rural areas have not received the vaccine is due to the remoteness and

the difficulty in trying to get the product into their hands.

Dr Bowering says the vaccinations  will begin in earnest next week. "Originally" he added "we expected to be underway in early November and we are going to meet that date".

Next week the high risk groups will get their shots, women in the second half of their pregnancy, high risk groups including aboriginals in remote communities.

"The H1N1 has taken more time to hit our region" Dr Bowering says, "about 3-4 weeks, which is following a normal pattern. Everyone will be able to get their vaccinations within

the next month."

There are, according to Northern Health , 5 cases of H1N1, in which people have been hospitalized , but says Bowering doctors are now seeing many more patients and that number is

expected to increase in the coming days.

Rural areas of Canada are all experiencing difficulty in getting the vaccine out to the respective communities Dr Bowering added, the Yukon and Interior Health regions are examples.

"It’s tough to get the vaccine out when you have to reach people in isolated regions of the province of which Northern Health covers many".

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