By David F. Rooney
The nation-wide shortage of H1N1 vaccine rippled through Revelstoke today with the cancellation of the city’s scheduled H1N1 and seasonal flu immunization clinics by the Interior Health Authority.
Posters were slapped on the doors of the Community Centre early this morning announcing the cancellation of all clinics slated for the Nov. 9-14 period. That includes a clinic for high-risk groups that was scheduled for today at the Community Centre and a clinic on the evening of Nov. 12 at the United Church.
“Please be advised that there are no H1N1 and/or seasonal flu clinics currently scheduled for this area,” the posters said. “As soon as we receive our vaccine supply we will schedule clinics again.”
The posters direct people to watch for more information online at www.interiorhealth.ca and www.immunizebc.ca. You can also call HealthLinkBC at 811, the local flu line at 250-814-2230 or the Public Health Centre at 250-814-2244.
IHA spokeswoman Lannea Parfitt said more supplies of vaccine will be received this week “and based on what we get, we will assess how many clinics we’ll be able to hold next week.”
“Technically, we haven’t ‘cancelled’ clinics per se,” she said. “The dates of Nov 9 and 12 for Revelstoke were based on seasonal flu clinics that were booked in September.”
When asked how many other communities saw their combined H1N1/seasonal flu clinics postponed, Parfitt said “not all pre-booked seasonal flu clinics would automatically become combination H1N1 and seasonal flu clinics because these require double the staff and in some cases, a larger venue. So, I can’t say how many other communities had cancelled clinics this week because most were pre-booked seasonal flu clinics.”
Information regarding the combined H1N1/seasonal flu vaccination clinics will be published in The Revelstoke Current as it becomes available.
