Vaccine shortage closes H1N1 clinics

Clinics across the city, including the one at 255 Centrum Blvd., will temporarily halt operations at the end of the day Thursday, Nov. 12.

The shortage is a result of a recently announced vaccine manufacturing slowdown that affects distribution across Canada.

“Unfortunately, we have no control over vaccine supply and must rely on other levels of government and the producing pharmaceutical company,” said Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa’s medical officer of health. “This temporary halt in service will be as brief as possible, and planning is already underway to ensure a smooth transition back to normal operations when adequate vaccine supply is delivered."

The provincial government has informed the city that a shipment of roughly 26,000 doses of the adjuvanted vaccine will arrive sometime this week. When this is combined with the vaccine that is already available in Ottawa, Public Health officials expect to be out of vaccine supply by end of day Thursday. No information is currently available as to the size and date of the next delivery.

However, Public Health is able to supply alternate vaccine delivery agents, which include about 100 interested local doctors with doses for their patients, as part of its continued strategy to increase capacity and reach into the community, a city release notes.

In addition, Public Health is also able to meet the provincial mandate to vaccinate emergency responders and seniors over 65 with medical conditions who are in long-term care facilities and hospitals.

By the end of day Thursday, the city will have distributed almost 190,000 doses of the vaccine to the priority groups. This distribution represents roughly 22 per cent of the Ottawa population. The overall goal of the vaccination effort is to vaccinate a minimum of 40 per cent of residents before December 2009.

As per provincial direction, vaccination clinics will continue to focus on the primary priority groups, which include healthcare workers, pregnant women, people under 65 with medical conditions, and children between six months to five years until the end of day Thursday.

“We continue to see a strong demand for the vaccine in the community,” adds Dr. Levy “We welcome the pending provincial decisions to expand vaccination priority to new groups. Once the supply delivery plan is more solid and our clinic operations resume again, these changes will be reflected in our vaccination plan.”

For more information on H1N1 and tomorrow’s vaccination clinics, visit ottawa.ca/health or contact the Ottawa Public Health Information Line at 613-580-6744.