metronews.ca
Loading....
Loading...
Local
Loading...
|
Canada
Loading...
|
World
Loading...
|
Business
Loading...
|
Sports
|
Entertainment
|
Movies
Loading...
|
Columns
Loading...
|
Blogs
Loading...
|
Life
|
Games
|
x
HomeLocal

Children with chronic illness, new parents added to H1N1 priority list

  Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax

Firefighter Louis Sinclair gets an H1N1 shot from nurse Jackie Hartley-Langille Thursday at the Highfield Park Fire Station. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, announced that children 19 or younger with chronic medical conditions and women who have just given birth and their partners are now eligible to get the H1N1 vaccine.

ALEX BOUTILIER
FOR METRO HALIFAX
November 06, 2009 2:40 a.m.
       Text size          
The province’s H1N1 vaccine priority groups have expanded to include children with chronic illness, women who have just given birth and their partners, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer announced yesterday.

According to Dr. Robert Strang, these groups will be eligible to receive the swine flu vaccination effective immediately. People in the first risk group, including pregnant women and health-care workers, are still eligible to be immunized.

“I’m urging everyone in these groups to get immunized to protect themselves, their families and their community,” said Strang. “It’s their best line of defence against developing influenza and H1N1.”

Strang acknowledged if everyone in the newly announced groups go to get vaccinated, it could deplete the province’s vaccine supply.

“If all the people in this group come forward in the next few days, we quite well might run out of vaccine,” he said. “But I’d much rather immunize as many people as possible and run out of vaccine ... than be overly cautious, sit on vaccine and leave people unprotected.”

Strang also said the province expects to receive an additional 28,500 doses of the adjuvanted vaccine and 23,300 doses of the unadjuvanted vaccine designed for pregnant women sometime next week. He preached patience to groups who are still not eligible to receive the vaccination, acknowledging their frustration at the delay.

“Ultimately, everybody will get an opportunity to get vaccinated,” Strang said. “I do understand that people not in the priority groups are frustrated and concerned, and I want to assure you that ... we will expand the groups further, as soon as we’re able to based on the vaccine supply and based on our list of who is at greatest risk.

“As difficult as the situation is, we all have a responsibility to see that they get vaccinated first,” he added.

More about H1N1
Don't be greedy, share this article:                                       

User Comments & Ratings Comment as guest
more local stories

A fatal accident brings Montreal's St. Patrick's parade to a tragic end Video Available

MONTREAL - Montreal's St. Patrick's parade came to a tragic end Sunday when a young reveller was killed after jumping from a flatbed truck.

Police probe suspicious deaths of elderly couple found in N.B. home

SAINT-ANDRE, N.B. - RCMP officers are investigating the suspicious deaths of an elderly couple whose bodies were found in their home in northwestern New Brunswick on Saturday.

Growing immigrant population means political scrap for votes

OTTAWA - Projections that visible minorities will soon dominate Canada's cities are no surprise to political operators in Ottawa.

Cash shortage for moms in Canada as Tories promise global aid

OTTAWA - Federal cash for troubled pregnancies and newborns in Canada remains in short supply even as the Conservative government leads a global campaign to improve the health of mothers and children overseas.

Demise of Canadian climate research may have global impact

MONTREAL - When government funding for a foundation dedicated to climate research dries up at the end of the year, scientists say the aftershocks of its departure will be felt not only in Canada but by researchers around the globe.

editor's picks

Memo does not refute Prius driver's stuck gas pedal report: Lawyer

SAN DIEGO - Investigators with Toyota Motor Corp. and the U.S. government could not replicate the runaway speeding reported by a Prius owner who said his car's accelerator got stuck as he drove on a California freeway, according to a memo for a congressional panel.

Swarm of Thai protesters demand government dissolve Parliament

BANGKOK, Thailand - As many as 100,000 people demonstrated peacefully against Thailand's government at a party-like rally Sunday, but the capital was being kept on edge by their threat to continue protesting until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls new elections.

Vatican denies celibacy policy had role in sex abuse cases

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Sunday denied that its celibacy requirement for priests was the root cause of the clerical sex abuse scandal convulsing the church in Europe and again defended the pope's handling of the crisis.

Taliban carve wide swath of destruction in Kandahar attacks

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Taliban unleashed a wide swath of destruction across Kandahar City over the weekend in what the militants warned was a demonstration of their resolve to fight for their heartland.

It's Bieber-mania on Twitter: Canadian heartthrob dominates the conversation

Canadian teen heartthrob Justin Bieber is the most talked about person on Twitter, and nearly the most talked about topic, period.


F E A T U R E D   S P O N S O R S

READ THE PRINT
EDITION ONLINE:
LOCAL GUIDES