'Can we protect everyone? No' — chief health officer WAYNE THIBODEAU The Guardian
Four swine flu vaccine clinics will be held across Prince Edward Island on Monday as the province tries to ensure high-risk groups get vaccinated even as supplies of the vaccine run dangerously low.
But Chief Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison admits the swine flu vaccine will come too late for some.
Morrison said it’s unfortunate the second, and more dangerous wave of swine flu hit just as regulatory approval had been given for the swine flu vaccine.
In an ideal world, Morrison said everybody would have been vaccinated before the pandemic hit.
However, the swine flu hit earlier than anticipated and the vaccine was late.
“Can we protect everyone? No,” said Morrison.
“As public health officials, we are going to try and protect as many people as we can.”
The priority for Monday’s clinic will be children aged six months to school entry and household contacts of infants under six months of age.
In West Prince, the clinic will be held at the former Call Centre in the West Prince Business Park in Bloomfield. The clinic will be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
In East Prince, the clinic will be held at the Public Health Nursing Office at 205 Linden Crescent in Summerside.
It will also be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Two clinics will be held in eastern P.E.I.
In Montague, it will be held at the Montague Wellness Centre from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Souris Kindergarten at Rollo Bay Consolidated School will be the second site in eastern P.E.I. That clinic will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Morrison said the province will be trying to determine how much vaccine is left over the weekend.
That will help them determine how much vaccine they’ll have to complete high risk groups during Monday’s clinics.
It will be sometime next week before it is known when elementary school children and first responders will be vaccinated.
Monday Clinics
- West Prince: Former Call Centre, West Prince Business Park, 51 Griffin Rd., Bloomfield Centre
Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
- East Prince: Location: Public Health Nursing Office, 205 Linden Crescent, Summerside
Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Montague: Location: Montague Wellness Centre
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Souris: Location: Souris Kindergarten at Rollo Bay Consolidated School
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
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bannie ============== from chtown, pei writes: The criminals are protected though
HURRAH .you think the children are not
in close proxcimity in school.
playing GOD again ,just like school board
fiasco,they all deserve a pat on the back
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Easterner from PE writes: Why is the vaccination for Souris going on at the Rollo Bay School? That's where the Kindergarten for the area is at. So let's just ship all the people who need vaccinations to a place where little kids are. And what about other high risk people who were supposed to get the vaccination this past week, but didn't get a chance because they ran out?
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bill from pei writes: not everyone!!
that is certainly a sign of the times
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Concerned parent from PEI writes: How do you expect people to be able to get there in those time frames, people have work and school etc..I personally think these clinic should be open later then 4 and 5 pm. And Please everyone who is not in this category wait your turn.
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just *MAD* from pei writes: OH my gosh ,the swine just dropped out of the sky...They(gov/medical)knew this was coming and now they are playing God with our lives ,deciding who should be protected.Us parents are sending our children out to the unknown(school/daycare),we all read the stories about children dying from this and quickly...Iam scared for myself and my family,we were told there would be enough vaccines for everyone..fwhat happened..Heather Morrison should resign.
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UNACCEPTABLE from PEI writes: (Morrison said it’s unfortunate the second, and more dangerous wave of swine flu hit just as regulatory approval had been given for the swine flu vaccine.)
What more dangerous wave of swine flu?? Last week it was just the Second Wave! What else have we not been told?
The Vaccine being delayed is the same Vaccine we were told just recently we would even have a surplus of along with having enough to Vaccinate Every Islander who wanted the Vaccine!
The WAIT for Vaccine is why there are more Students with the Virus and more Islanders Ill ! This Vaccine should have been Administered two weeks ago before cases started to increase and before the school outbreaks!
After four days of Clinics we don't even have enough Vaccine for those most at risk and we haven't even touched the Schools and Students and Outbreaks are increasing!
Another Problem was the Priority List! Why would inmates at Sleepy Hollow take Priority over Small Children, Pregnant Women, Students, the Chronically Ill and those living with Compromised Immune Systems??? Apparently someone has a different view on Priorities. I dont' blame parents and those at risk for being concerned and irate! If the Virus continues to spread and becomes more serious and we don't receive the Vaccine STAT it will be too late to administer the Vaccine! Especially given they are stating it takes two weeks after receiving it before it provides any protecton.
And those not on the Priority List who received the Vaccine and put others at risk ! What is the point in a Priority List when it is NOT FOLLOWED! Who does that Benefit? Only Those who weren't on the list for that day but got the Vaccine! Along with some apparently who wanted the Vaccine before they left for Florida!!! I don't believve leaving for Florida was one of the Priorities Listed!
As far as those blaming the Media Hype, the Hype is not coming from the Media! If it weren't for the Media we would have NO INFORMATION AT ALL! The Public Health Lines only grant Islanders a Busy Signal! The Public Health Site isn't even listing the Clinic Sites or times. Of course that's understandable now as they will all changed! People are calling Pharmacies to get information as Pharmacists seem to be the only ones available and able to assist in answering questions and point people in the right direction.
So what changed from the reports of having enough to do All PEI, All Canada with no possible shortage to now having NONE? Explanations on shortages doesn't provide protection from the H1N1 Virus, the Vaccine does! But I guess now we will have to resort to Prayer!
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Get a Grip Folks from PEI writes: The reporting on this has reduced people to thinking one person's health is more important than the next. Disgraceful!
Everyone will eventually get the vaccine if you want it - get a grip!
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momof2 from chtown, pei writes: I live in Charlottetown and need to get my son (19 months) and me and my partner vaccinated. I would have done it at the clinic last week, but my little guy was sick all week, with a cold. So they wouldn't.
Anyone know if they are having another clinic in charlottetown next week or what? I don't have a car, so it makes it difficult to get around, especially when you have two sick kids.
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Keith Doyle from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec writes: Again, governments were not prepared for another catastrophe, according to Dr. Morrison... will come too late for some. I always thought that the so-called powers that head a country or province were supposed to ready for this kind of thing...swine flu. And for Dr. Morrison to say we can't protect everyone is not very comforting to citizens. No wonder there is panic throughout the country...those elected and hired to protect us all are to blame!!!
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Connie Concerned from Charlottetown, PE writes: It may be sad to say but maybe we should have policed those who have gotten the vacine already. I know people whp got the vacine and should not have received it before others in greater need.
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C Minus from Pe writes: On a tiny little island like this one we could have done a stellar job.
We have a small population and are at an advantage then for creating a better way of handing out the vaccine I think.
Only so many people and groups to consider where to put them in the chain of giving out the vaccine and being able to accomplish this in an orderly fashion.
Sadly those with compromised health seem to become the dismal statistics when death occurs from H1N1.
So , for many of us in that state not to have been able to get vaccinated is a crying shame and an over look. There was plenty of time for our little island planners to get it in better control imo.
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shaking my head from pei writes: ok. If this article is correct then why was Ghiz in the lineup ? I don't understand. Perhaps he came to the same understanding I did - that parents should be done so they can't catch the flu and pass it on to their children. You think ? This is so muddled.
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Caustic Cynic from pei writes: Not everyone will be protected. Except for all those inconsiderate, selfish and otherwise healthy people who were not scheduled to receive their shots but lined up anyway. And amazingly they received their shots, depriving children, pregnant women, asthmatics, diabetics, and other people who were scheduled to receive the vaccinations. Why they weren't sent home with their tails between their legs I'm mystified. The staff should not have catered to them.
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Curious from P.E writes: Curious. Were all the politicans vaccinated?Their families?
I can see drs and health care workers being done.
But were the politicans?
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To Get A Grip ! from PEI writes: Yes you should! On the present reality!
As apparently you don't understand the present reality! If you did, you would know everyone WON'T eventually get the vaccine on PEI!!! (Can we protect everyone? No,” said Morrison.) Even if we get a shipment of vaccine it won't be enough for all Islanders. And the shipment will be too late, as the Virus is already spreading! After one has the Virus the VACCINATION is REDUNDANT!
Presently there was only 20 thousand Islanders Vaccinated out of a total of 138 Thousand! And the majority of those were not the ones who needed it the most, (the ones who have compromised immune sytems, young children who are most at risk, people with Chronic Illnesses, didn't get the Vaccine!)
These people should have had priority over others! However, those in charge at the Clinic didn't ensure the Priority List for that day was followed. Hence, those not at risk got the Vaccine instead of those who were at risk and really needed it!
So yes someone should Get A Grip but it's not the citizens! And unfortunately it's too late now for those who realy need to Get A Grip to Get One, as it's too late now for A Grip to make any kind of a productive difference regarding the Vaccination Program!
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lorna steele from charlottetown, pei writes: I am a senior citizen I would not think of lineing up for the H1N1 shot ,the first day the lines were filled with senior citizens they dont recomment anyone over 65 get the shot unless at the end of the clinics you really want it. health care workers and little children turned away so seniors going to florida can get the shot .
all i can say is I hope you will not feel guilty if a young person dies and maybe your shot would have saved them .
children in schools are more at risk then inmates ,crowded classrooms or crowded cell, what is wrong with this picture we think more of our inmates then our children.
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This is outrageous! from PEI writes: We were told that there would be enough vaccine for everybody on PEI. This should have been taken care of long and ever ago because there has been so much talk over the H1N1 that there was certainly enough time to get the vaccine here. Now, here we are, scrambling to get everyone vaccinated and then being told there may not be enough to get everyone vaccinated. I hope the people that presented at the clinics, and that weren't in the high risk categories, are ashamed of themselves for getting a vaccination that was intended for the children or any other high risk category! This just goes to show how selfish people can be when it comes to a pandemic. I know people are scared but we have to realize that the high risk people need to be vaccinated first! I just hope that when it comes time to for my little ones to get their second dose of the HIN1 vaccine, that there will be some left and not be told that the first does is good enough !
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Stay calm from Cornwall, PEI writes: I am a parent of an asthmatic, but I would like to ask fellow Islanders to remain calm. The facts are, yes the vaccine is late being delivered, but unfortunately, this was a federal decision, not provincial. The province decides based on federal/WHO organization priority recommendations on on it should be delivered. The province basically followed the federal recommendations (see the Public Health Agency of Canada website for FAQ's)
Try to stay calm and reassure yourselves that although the H1N1 virus is highly contagious, it is no more dangerous than the seasonal flu virus. I know it is not reasurring that there are deaths as a result of flu, however, that is a fact with all seasonal flu. The only difference with H1N1 is that the news has not reported in the past of Canadian deaths as a result of season flu as they happen. Most people were unaware of this fact. Most of us never worried to much about ourselves or our children about getting seasonal flu, it is just a fact of life. The difference with H1N1 is that most people do not have immunity from it as it is so new and many people have the potential to become sick at the same time, therefore the risk to potential shutdown of schools, business, industry, government - is the risk during a pandemic.....which in essence is a risk to our economy (this is true on a global setting).
It is unfortunate that the priority criteria for vaccine delivery is not being followed, as I do believe that screening could have been applied using Health workers walking the line asking a couple of questions to each person in line and passing out a ticket (for lack of better words) to those that meet the criteria. This would have allievated long line ups/wait times and no one turned away at the end of the day.
Regardless, stay calm, try to get the vaccine when you can (the flu virus will continue throughout the winter) and remember that even if your high risk child/individual gets the flu, contact your doctor for a prescription for Tamiflu to be given within 48 hrs of start of symptoms. Remember this virus is no more serious than seasonal flu virus, other that it is highly contagious.
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Get a Grip from PEI writes: My My - there are definitely some posters here who are in desperate need of 'anger management'. Stop the panic folks!
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Hwead shaker from pe writes: We haven't even started the period that the plans were to start. What we are getting now is early shipments, which are meant for those most at risk ( except for the queue jumpers, some of which obviously post here as being insulted that any person should be allowed to have anything they haven't gotten yet), and are being doled out as quickly as being produced.
Canada is getting more people vaccinated than any place in the world (per capita) including the US where people are claiming you can get Tamiflu at the local drug mart.
I don't think some people would be happy unles they were the very first person given a shot, and there was an arrangement to come to their house at a convenient time.
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double talk from PE writes: DR, Morrison is the best politician I have evey seen. She can talk all day and say nothing. Everything she has said during this whole episode had been nothing but confusion for everyone. Herself included apparently.
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Could Have Been Much Better Managed from PEI writes: It's not like our Health Dept. and Government they didn't have lots of time to get a Plan in Place!
Given that, I think they could have managed the first shipment of Vaccine MUCH BETTER!
As far as the Inmates. I have no problem with them being inculded for a Vaccination. I do have a problem with being placed on the Priority List! And being in a Confined Environment or having underlying health problems is no reason for being Priority in their case.
If the Staff and Sleep Hollow and the Youth Centre were vacinated who were they going to contract it from? They could have restricted visitors if they are allowed the same as the Hospitials are doing! And the Inmates could have practiced Prevention Measures like WE ARE NOW GOING TO HAVE TO DO! What was their Big Threat? I dont' believe they would have any threat as serious as those living outside Confined Environment and being in contact with all people in the Community, their work place and schools! The Inmates are not as exposed to people with the Virus as Island Tax Paying Citizens are!!
A VERY POOR DECISION on behalf of Government. And it may result in a citizen with underlying conditions, Chronic Illness, Compromised Immune System, becoming very ill !
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reality check from away writes: YOU'RE ALL GONERS.
Because you live on Pesticide Every Inch (P.E.I.)..... Canada's ''Green'' Province.
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