OSOYOOS TIMES-November 18, 2009
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
More H1N1 vaccine has arrived in British Columbia, and Interior Health is resuming its mass vaccination clinics – complete with new criteria for who is eligible for the H1N1 shot.
“The eligibility criteria has expanded to include all healthcare workers, first responders, children and teens five to 18 years inclusive, and seniors with chronic health conditions,” states an Interior Health media release.
In Osoyoos, the next clinic is scheduled for Nov. 20 at the Sonora Community Centre from 3 to 8 p.m.
According to the B.C. Healthy Living and Sport Ministry, the province has received 1.16 million doses of H1N1 vaccine to date and an additional 258,000 doses are expected to arrive next week.
More than 900,000 British Columbians have been vaccinated in the largest immunization campaign in B.C.’s history.
Two-thirds of the vaccines have gone to doctors’ offices.
Dr. Lorraine Kane, from the Osoyoos Medical Clinic, said so far they have distributed approximately 70 doses to patients in the high-risk category and have approximately 40 more on hand.
The office has been making calls to try to ensure those Kane thinks need the shot, get it.
Kane has been going through her charts, identifying those who need the vaccination most.
“Some of the people who we have phoned who do qualify are turning it down,” she said.
Kane said she has seen a fair bit of H1N1, especially on her shifts in the emergency department at Oliver’s South Okanagan General Hospital.
Her clinic is asking people not to come in to the office if at all possible.
The Desert Doctors Clinic received 80 doses of the H1N1 vaccine and has 50 doses left.
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