REGINA – In an effort to ration a very limited supply of flu vaccine, health officials in Saskatchewan say they will only be providing vaccinations to pregnant women and children under the age of five.
Approximately 25% of Saskatchewan residents have received their flu vaccination since last fall, but due to high demand the province has used up their initial supply of 280,000 doses and further doses are hard to come by.
“We know that there is a global vaccine supply issue, and we continue to work with the Public Health Agency and our partners in other jurisdictions to secure additional vaccine,” Saskatchewan’s Deputy Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Denise Werker said. “While more vaccine is expected to arrive in the coming days, we feel it is now necessary to focus our vaccination efforts on those at highest risk from H1N1.”
Influenza cases continue to rise in Saskatchewan with seven influenza-related deaths and 618 lab-confirmed influenza cases this season in the province.
A vaccine shipment expected to arrive in the province next week includes a spray influenza vaccine (FluMist). The FluMist vaccine will be coming from Quebec and is licensed in Canada for people between the ages of 2 to 59.
H1N1 is the prominent flu strain this season and has the greatest effects on people who were born after the strain first surfaced in 2009.
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