CALGARY- It turns out that even those braving hours-long lineups to get a flu shot are questioning if the vaccine is necessary.
The province has been urging Albertans to get vaccinated as a strain of H1N1 and influenza has been linked to eight deaths, and hundreds of hospitalizations.
“My sister is a nurse and she’s saying get it, and my sister-in-law is a doctor and she says get it,” said Lana Lane, who was in line at a clinic in Strathmore on Friday. “When you’re listening to those professional, I think maybe we should get it.”
However, health officials say the situation is nowhere near being a crisis, calling it a “normal flu season.”
Communications experts say that’s leading to confusion.
“You can’t create a message and then run away from it. It seems that’s what officials are doing now,” says Marc Chikinda from the MRU faculty of communication studies, adding there have been mixed messages.
“There will be a next time when the government needs to communicate to Albertans about something serious—what’s the likelihood of them taking it seriously? That’s the real damage here.”
The province expects to run out of the vaccine by the end of the week, but is trying to secure more.
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