Local health authority ready for increased immunization campaign

AMHERST - Now that all Nova Scotians are eligible to receive H1N1 vaccinations, the Cumberland Health Authority is hoping to avoid the hysteria that surrounded the campaign launch several weeks ago.
"We'll be ready. We were ready three weeks ago when the campaign originally launched," authority spokesperson Ann Keddy said Friday. "We have learned from those first few days and have taken steps that will hopefully minimize lineups and forcing people to wait in less than ideal conditions."
On Friday, the province announced the vaccination campaign has been expanded to include all Nova Scotians. The decision is based on the amount of available vaccine and he expected supply over the coming weeks. As of Friday, it had almost 70,000 available doses and expects to receive 135,000 does of adjuvanted vaccine early this week.
Clinics in Cumberland County resume today at the Oxford Regional High gym and continue through the week in Parrsboro, Springhill and Amherst.
Keddy said the health authority is hoping people will show patience when showing up to get immunized.
"Not everyone is gong to get it in one day," she said.
"It will take two to three weeks to get everyone in the county."
That sentiment is being echoed by the province's chief public health officer, Dr. Robert Strang, who said all Nova Scotians should get the vaccine in a timely manner.
"We've learned to manage some of the lineups at clinics. There will be lineups, but we're better positioned to manage those. A fair number of Nova Scotians have been immunized and we will get a fair number of doses out to doctors' offices," he said. "Over the next few weeks, we'll be working with private nursing agencies to have clinics in work places. All those will decrease the pressure on our public clinics."
Strang confirmed that the second wave of the H1N1 appears to have reached its peak and the latest figures indicate things are quieting down. However, H1N1 is still out there and people should not reduce their vigilance.
"We're getting some signals that it has peaked and we're seeing a slowdown," he said. "There's a possibility we could see a third wave during the winter that follows the path of other pandemics. Just because you haven't been vaccinated or gotten sick, we still have a lot of H1N1 activity out there and it's going to go on for weeks. We've had some deaths and we will continue to see more deaths so we have to take this seriously. It's not too late to get immunized."

dcole@amherstdaily.com