Via the CBC:
Alberta health officials said Saturday the province's H1N1 immunization clinics have been suspended immediately because of a national reduction in the number of available vaccine doses.And then they go on to justify not targeting high-risk people first to begin with.
Officials said they will roll out a plan early next week for targeted H1N1 vaccines, focusing only on those at the greatest risk. Mass immunizations likely will not resume for at least a few weeks.
Targeted recipients are pregnant women, children six months to five years of age, people under 65 with chronic health conditions, people living in remote and isolated communities and health-care workers.
Alberta Health Services' senior medical health officer Dr. Gerry Predy said the details of the targeted immunization clinics will be released Monday.
He said the suspension of mass immunizations is in effect until further notice.
"It is important for the public not to panic and to respect the priorities for vaccination," Predy said.
"Again, we're asking people to be calm. There will be more vaccine and there should be enough vaccine for everybody who wants it."
The announcement comes after H1N1 vaccination clinics in Edmonton and Calgary were overwhelmed Saturday, forcing clinics to close their lineups and turn people away.
Thousands of people showed up looking for vaccines, some lining up as early as 4 a.m.
At the Olympic Oval in Calgary, more than 3,000 people lined up.
By the time the clinic was shut down early Saturday morning, officials said the wait had already reached an estimated eight hours and the lineup stretched about half a kilometre outside the building.
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Related:
A quote from the Health
Liepert, meanwhile, said "Albertans are not getting the message" about prioritizing vulnerable patients for the vaccines.
However, he maintained the government is not going into "Soviet Union mode" where they will have people in lineups prove they're in the highrisk category.
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