EDMONTON – As concerns around the flu outbreak continue to rise in Alberta, hundreds of people lined up at Northgate Health Centre in Edmonton Sunday to receive the vaccine.
“There’s so many in hospital and so many are sick, I didn’t want to take a chance,” said one woman waiting in the line. “I wanted to get it as soon as possible.”
That’s been the mentality of people across the province, as mass immunization clinics have been flooded with people wanting to get immunized.
“We’ve had a huge demand for the vaccine,” Dr. Gerry Predy, senior medical officer of health with Alberta Health Services (AHS), said Sunday. “I think people all of a sudden perceive more of a risk and I think that’s what brought them forward.
“We’ve put a lot of vaccines in a lot of arms.”
Many Albertans say they were turned away on Saturday, as some pharmacies had run out of the vaccine.
Predy says there is no shortage of the vaccine in the province, but due to the sudden increase in demand, there was a distribution issue.
READ MORE: Flu vaccination efforts hampered by distribution problems
As of Thursday, AHS said there have been five reported deaths in Alberta as a result of influenza and 965 lab-confirmed cases of the flu province-wide, 920 of which were the H1N1 form of the virus.
As word of the outbreak spreads, it’s led people – many of whom don’t usually get the vaccine – to spend their time waiting in line to get their shot. The wait time to get vaccinated at the Edmonton clinic Sunday was more than one hour at one point Sunday.
“It wasn’t our intent to scare people, we just wanted people to be aware of what the situation was,” Predy explained.
And while serious, one professor with the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta says this year’s flu season is “no different than any other flu season.”
“Every flu season is severe,” Louis Francescutti said. “I think what’s a little different this year is that the target audience for the flu seems to be younger people, middle-aged people. And when they get it, they seem to be getting it quite hard.”
The H1N1 strain is primarily attacking adults in their 30s, 40s, and 50s.
“This particular strain, the H1N1, seems to be a little more aggressive with the healthier population, so it’s kind of an oxymoron. And that’s the population that’s usually more difficult to immunize,” explained Francescutti.
READ MORE: What you need to know about flu activity across Canada
While difficult, Predy says people are starting to get the message about the importance of vaccination. He just hopes they’ll get their vaccines earlier next year.
“Any way we can get them in and get vaccinated is good,” he said. “Hopefully people will get the message this year and then next year they’ll get the vaccine in October and they don’t have to stand in line as long.”
Predy estimates about 900,000 Albertans have now received the vaccine, up from 820,000 on Dec. 31. Official numbers will be released later in the week.
For a complete list of clinic locations across the province, visit Alberta Health Services’ website.
Edmonton’s additional immunization clinic locations are as follows:
Bonnie Doon Health Centre, 8314 88 Avenue N.W.
Fri, January 10, 2014 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Drop In)
Northgate Health Centre, 9499 137 Avenue N.W.
Tues, January 7, 2014 12:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Drop In)
Fri, January 10, 2014 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Drop In)
West Jasper Place Health Centre, 9720 – 182 Street NW, T5T 3T9
Tues, January 7, 2014 12.30 p.m – 8:00 p.m. (Drop In)
Calgary’s additional immunization clinic locations are as follows:
Brentwood Village Mall, 3630 Brentwood Road, N.W.
Tue, January 7, 2014 11:00 AM – 6:30 PM (Drop In)
Wed, January 8, 2014 11:00 AM – 6:30 PM (Drop In)
South Calgary Health Centre, 31 Sunpark Plaza, S.E.
Tue, January 07, 2014 11:00 AM – 6:30 PM (Drop In)
Wed, January 08, 2014 11:00 AM – 6:30 PM (Drop In)
With files from Cheryl Oates, Global News.
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