Swine Flu Shot Priorities
Thursday September 17, 2009
The Canadian federal government has issued guidelines for the provinces and territories on who should get a swine (H1N1) flu shot first. While assuring Canadians that there will be enough vaccine available for everyone who needs or wants it, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler-Jones says that the aim is that "those who need it most get it first."
That includes:
- people under 65 years old who have chronic medical conditions
- pregnant women
- children aged six months to five years
- people in remote or isolated communities
- health care workers who deliver essential services
- caregivers and household contacts of people at high risk who can't get immunized, such as infants under six months
The swine flu shots are expected to be available in November. They are separate from regular flu shots for seasonal flu.
Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
More on Swine Flu in Canada
Swine Flu Shot Clinics in Canada
Swine Flu in Canada
Swine Flu Risks for Pregnant Women
Comments
Reading over the list of those considered most in need of a swine flu shot is frankly horrifying. To inoculate pregnant women, infants and those already taxed by existing medical conditions is not good medicine.
Documentation and publication of the ill-effects of regular flu shots has fallen far short of what is appropriate for a public in need of knowing the actual risks of these kind of shots.
Before getting the swine flu shot it would be wise to discover what is actually in the shot and how has it been proven effective. Don’t wait to ask the technician dispensing the shot– they are not informed either!
Stimulating the immune system to respond at its best is not accomplished by weakening the system with an injected pathogen. Fresh air, clean living, good foods and good company is our best medicine in times of public crisis. Then nature knows full well how to take care much better than any pharmaceutical experiment.
I’m interested to know the age of 100 or so people in Alberta who have already contracted swine flu and if they would have received an immunization based on this criteria? In fact, the public health is recommending that everyone get it, and especially those people who have had pneumonia in the past. It’s the pneumonia apparently that is the killer, not the virus itself. Can someone verify this?
I made a large error in saying 100 in Alberta. It’s probably more like something 1-10, but not sure about that, in either case. Sorry about that.
Hey! What about people who have underlying health problems and happen to be over 65 who would like to get a shot? It appears we’ve had our day and can all quite happily fall off the cliff!! A cold is a serious illness for me! It would indeed be interesting to know how old most of the people who contracted swine flu are.
What about those Canadians not living in Canada.We still pay taxes!
These are just guidelines the federal government is recommending to the provinces and territories. Each province will be setting up their own priorities, which may vary.
There is expected to be enough vaccine available for anyone who wants a flu shot for the H1N1 virus. This list is for those who should get one *first.*
Older adults have benn less likely to contract the swine flu than younger (under 50) adults.
If you have any questions about your own situation, talk to your doctor.
My deductions after going through the information about H1N1 shot priorities in U.S.A, Canada (34,000,000 population) is just copying the priorities (who should get the H1N1 shots before others) of U.S.A which has a population of 310.000,000 (three hundred and ten million) and finding it difficult to get the H1N1 vaccines.
By copying U.S.A Canada does not have to do any research. Wise thinking.
What about copying U.S.A in other respects too.