Prince George, B.C.- Starting tomorrow, all British Columbians who need and want to be immunized against the H1N1

 flu virus will now be eligible to receive the vaccine. 

"I want to encourage every British Columbian who has not yet been  vaccinated to now go out and get their shot as soon as possible," said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall. "Becoming complacent would be a mistake and, unless we get more people immunized, there is stillpotential for B.C. to see as many hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks as we have seen to date."

 

B.C. expects to receive an additional 258,000 doses of vaccine today and anticipates receiving approximately 640,000 doses late next week.In total, 1.16 million doses of the vaccine have already been delivered  to British Columbia.

 

"When eligibility was expanded last week, we anticipated line-ups all  through this week as demand would once again increase among these new groups, but this has not occurred," said Kendall. "While we do not yet have enough vaccine to administer to everyone who is now eligible, given that our clinics are operating at less than full capacity, it is only fair to open it up to the rest of the population so that any and all British Columbians who want to be vaccinated can now do so.

 

"This may mean clinics run out of vaccine and are forced to close until additional supplies are obtained, but it is preferable to have vaccine in people's arms, rather than sitting in fridges."

 

Building on distribution plans already in place, regional health  authorities will receive shipments of additional doses on a weekly basis. The vaccine will continue to be made available through public flu shot clinics, physicians' offices and, in some regions of the province, through a number of pharmacists who have been trained and licensed to administer the vaccine.