Vaccine wait times cut sharply – for some

After days of long lineups at clinics offering the H1N1 vaccine, it was a very different story Sunday at some doctors’ offices as those who snagged a supply of the vaccine began giving their patients the jab.

At the Westway Medical Clinic in Etobicoke, Julie Hilliard’s children waited a mere 15 minutes to get their H1N1 vaccination.

Instead of standing in a six-hour lineup, Hilliard’s children donned face masks and walked into the clinic to get the shots from their pediatrician.

“I’m just happy to be here,” said Hilliard, who has been closely watching news coverage of the six-hour long lineups at the Toronto Public Health clinics.

The health agency plans to deliver 100,000 doses of the vaccine to doctors’ offices in a bid to reduce lineups at public health clinics. As of Saturday, 110 physicians’ offices had received shipments.

Westway Medical Clinic, on Kipling Ave. in Etobicoke received a package of 500 vaccines from public health last Thursday morning and by Friday was inoculating its regular patients – children and those in high-risk groups. Clinic doctors organized three days of inoculations starting Friday and ending Sunday, but will provide more for their patients, depending on how many vaccine doses are left over.

But mass lineups are far from over as thousands of people who, presumably, don’t have family doctors or pediatricians offering the shots crowded into two public health clinics in York region and another in Halton region.

Canada’s top doctor admitted Sunday that health officials didn’t expect so many people to line up for the H1N1 flu shot.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, the chief public health officer, told CTV’s Question Period that as recently as three weeks ago officials didn’t foresee the long lineups that have choked clinics giving out the H1N1 flu vaccine.

“Three or four weeks ago, what we could not anticipate was the number of people that are interested,” he said.

In Vaughan, some lined up in the dark before 4 a.m. at the Vellore Village Community Centre, even though it wasn’t scheduled to open until noon. Lineups were also long at the Ray Twinney Complex in Newmarket.

At the Halton Region administration complex in Oakville, officials said they expected to dispense more than 3,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine before the end of the afternoon.

“It’s been running very smoothly,” said Carleen Carroll, the region’s director of communications.

“I think people are very understanding that the high priority groups should be going through first. People have been very patient.”

Carroll said there were no complaints of line-jumping or challenging those who might not be in the groups targeted for the vaccine. Some people, in fact, voluntarily stepped from the lines after they realized they weren’t in the groups.

Shots are being given to people from six months to 65 years of age with chronic medical conditions; pregnant women with chronic medical conditions or who are greater than 20 weeks pregnant; all children from 6 months to under 5 years of age; persons living in remote and isolated areas; health care workers; and household contacts and care providers of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or may not respond to vaccines.

“We’re not the police, so we’re not forcing anybody out,” Carroll said.

Carroll said there would be clinics at the Halton complex all week. “As long as there’s vaccine, it’s running,” she said.

Marty Lehto and his wife Natalie brought their son Jack, 5 and daughter Kate, 2, from Burlington to get the vaccine for their children.

They waited 2-1/2 hours to get inside the huge auditorium where shots were being administered.

“There are shortages, so I can wait to get mine later,” Marty said.

Young Jack wasn’t apprehensive about getting a needle and said the shot would be “good.

“It has medicine on it and it protects us from getting sick,” he explained.

Rene Wroebel, 18 months, had a tear on her cheek after emerging from the big hall.

“She doesn’t like needles and she just had a booster shot on Friday,” said her mother Lorraine.

They waited just over two hours for the vaccine for Rene and her 4-year-old brother Colin.

“I was surprised it went as fast as it did,” she said. “It was fast-moving and very organized.”

Thousands of Canadians have been vaccinated since Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq approved the H1N1 vaccine in late October – after other countries had already begun vaccinations.

But there have been long lineups, confusion and frustration across the country as people rush to get the vaccine and some are turned away.

The swelling crowds at vaccination clinics are in stark contrast with earlier polls that showed few Canadians planned to get the H1N1 shot.

But that was before the recent deaths of three Ontario children who caught H1N1 – with another death still unconfirmed – put a human face on the virus and galvanized worried Canadians to get themselves and their families vaccinated.

Clinics are also coping with a shortage of vaccine from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The drugmaker will only be able to produce about 400,000 doses of the vaccine this week instead of the million or so doses that officials expected.

The shortage stems from production problems that arose when GlaxoSmithKline switched from making the adjuvanted version of the vaccine – which contains a booster compound – to making special unadjuvanted batches for pregnant women and young children.

A government source told The Canadian Press that GlaxoSmithKline had forewarned Ottawa that the switch to making the unadjuvanted vaccine would slow production. But the vaccine maker apparently underestimated how much the changeover would choke supply.

So instead of the 1.3 to 1.5 million doses that GlaxoSmithKline had anticipated, the drugmaker can now only supply some 436,000 doses for the coming week.

“GSK overstated their amounts,” Aglukkaq told CTV.

“They will continue to produce the vaccine. But we will continue to work with them as we roll out the vaccine.”

Butler-Jones has said the federal government didn’t know the extent of the shortfall until last Thursday. But he said production is expected to ramp up again the week of Nov. 9 and health officials don’t expect any more hiccups. – Healthzone.ca