While saying the swine flu vaccination program for priority groups is going well, Ontario's health officials say they can't yet say when the vaccine will be available to the general public.
Clinics that began last week gave the vaccine to health care workers and other high-priority groups. They were supposed to open to the general public on Monday until demand outstripped supplies of the vaccine.
"As of right now, we don't know how much we will be getting next week or when," Dr. Arlene King, the province's chief medical officer of health, told a Tuesday news conference.
She did say the province had a goal of getting all its 2.2 million doses of swine flu vaccine "into the arms" of the highest priority patients by the end of this week.
King did say "hundreds of thousands" of doses have been administered in Ontario so far.
There were some bumps in last week's rollout, but she said public health units faced a near-unprecedented surge in demand.
A week ago, the death of 13-year-old Evan Frustaglio, a healthy hockey player, shocked many people. While doctors likened the complication that killed Frustaglio to being hit by lightning, many parents in flu clinic lineups admitted the case galvanized them into getting their children vaccinated.
King said there have been 33 deaths in Ontario since April, 10 since Sept. 1. Of the six children who have died, four had underlying medical problems.
Overall, about 90 per cent of those who have died after contracting swine flu had an underlying medical problem. Their average age is 55, she said.
The illness has led to 639 people being hospitalized since the outbreak began. Ninety people were still in hospital as of Monday.
Officials have previously said the vast majority of people experience a mild version of swine flu, one they can recover from at home.
However, the risk of severe consequences rises if you are in one of the priority groups, which includes:
- pregnant women
- children between six months and less than five years of age
- people under age 65 with chronic conditions (eg. asthma, diabetes)
- household contacts and care providers of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or may not respond to vaccines
- health-care workers
- people living in remote areas
The federal government said last week that delivery of the adjuvanted vaccine would fall short because the manufacturer had started making the unadjuvanted variety for women who are fewer than 20 weeks pregnant.
As a result, Ontario only received 170,000 doses of the adjuvanted vaccine last Friday, much less than had been expected. This week, it received 86,800 doses of the unadjuvanted one.
On Tuesday, GlaxoSmithKline said its production lines in Quebec have re-commenced making the adjuvanted vaccine.
Adjuvants are compounds that allow the vaccine to give a greater immune boost while using less active ingredient.
King urged patience from people who aren't in priority groups.
"By the end of the year, all Ontarians who need or want the vaccine will have it," she said, noting peak seasonal flu season normally occurs in December and January.
She did say that swine flu activity in the province is higher than what would normally be experienced at the peak of a normal flu season.
Meanwhile, at Queen's Park, Premier Dalton McGuinty said the big challege to come will be convincing the general population that they need to get vaccinated.
"I know we have focused on lengthy lineups and the priority groups, but we are still going to be driving hard to encourage the general population to participate in the vaccine program," said he said. "I think that will be our single, greatest challenge. It will not ultimately be the delivery system or the distribution system."
There still seems to be "fairly broad resistance among Ontarians in participating in the vaccination program," the premier said.
"It's absolutely essential," that everyone gets the shot, even if it takes until Christmas to complete the program, McGuinty said.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon and files from The Canadian Press
