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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Health Swine Flu Vaccine Available to All British Columbians

Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 4:46 PM

Vancouver Sun reports:

All British Columbians who need and want to be immunized against the H1N1 flu virus will now be eligible to receive the vaccine starting tomorrow, the B.C. government announced today.

The power of the universal.

As for us...

How much of the vaccine has been shipped to Washington state?

More than 790,000 doses either have been shipped to the state or are in the process of being shipped, Church said Monday, Nov. 16.

The federal government allocates the free vaccine based on population. The total allocated for Washington state, as of Monday, was 936,000 doses, although that number continues to climb each week.

"We continue to order it as fast as we're told it's available to order," Church said.

Who can get the vaccine now?

Supplies of the vaccine have increased, but it's still only available to:

• Pregnant women.

• Health-care providers and emergency responders.

• Those who live with or care for children younger than 6 months old. Children this young cannot be vaccinated.

• Everyone who is 6 months to 24 years old.

• People who are 25 to 64 years old with medical conditions that place them at high risk for complications from the flu. Those conditions include asthma, heart disease, immune disorders or neurological conditions.

Particular this, particular that...

Washington has about 2 million more people than British Columbia.

Comments (14) RSS

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Our country is so fucked when serious epidemic hits.

Posted by danindowntown on November 19, 2009 at 4:55 PM

There can't be but a few thousand Britons in Columbia, can there? Are they all supposed to line up in front of the consulate or something?

Posted by elenchos on November 19, 2009 at 4:58 PM

No to quibble... but:

1.) Noting the populations of BC & Washington would really only be relevant if you noted the number of vaccines delivered to each, not just one.

-and-

2.) "All British Columbians who need and want to be immunized"... how, and by whom, is need (as opposed to want) defined in BC? (Clearly you must both need it and want it, not just want it.)

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on November 19, 2009 at 5:11 PM

Charles, it's "swine flu". Stop protecting the pig meat industry by using euphemisms. The pig meat industry (and pig meat consumers) should be picking up the entire cost for a universal vaccine and all other swine flu-related public health measures.

Posted by mean mean mean on November 19, 2009 at 5:11 PM

@4, agree with you 100 percent. im changing that shit.

Posted by Charles Mudede on November 19, 2009 at 5:15 PM

Charles, to be fair, you should mention that the United States has ten times the population of Canada. That has more to do with the availability of the vaccine than the populations of BC and Washington state.

Posted by Mahtli69 on November 19, 2009 at 5:39 PM

And they took longer to test the vaccine.

Posted by Westlake, son! on November 19, 2009 at 5:40 PM

Charles is my favorite!!!!!! :D

Posted by nice nice nice on November 19, 2009 at 5:59 PM

Oh. Oh! British Columbians. Thot you said British Comedians.

Nevermind.

Posted by RonK, Seattle on November 19, 2009 at 7:55 PM

@9 -- awesome!

@3 -- in Canada, if you want it, you get it.

From Public Health:

Q3. How did the government decide on the amount of vaccine to order?

While we would aim to vaccinate 100 per cent of the population, from observing seasonal flu shot campaigns, we know that even in provinces with free universal access vaccination programs, usually less than 50 per cent of the population will choose to be immunized.

Ordering 50.4 million doses of pandemic vaccine amounts to ordering 50 per cent more than we would expect to use for a normal seasonal vaccination campaign.

The Government of Canada is confident that 50.4 million vaccine doses will be sufficient to meet the needs of every Canadian likely to need and want protection.

Posted by Irena on November 19, 2009 at 9:02 PM

Since we're so close to B.C. can't we just ask them to annex Washington State for a few months then we all could get a piece of the vaccine.

Posted by Simone on November 20, 2009 at 8:58 AM

It's available to the identified groups who are faculty, staff, and students at the UW or their dependents ... as of today.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on November 20, 2009 at 10:15 AM

@3, the answer is everyone. The vaccine rollouts for special groups (pregnant women, people with chronic conditions, etc, started weeks ago. Now it is for everyone who WANTS one.

Posted by diane b on November 20, 2009 at 10:25 AM

@6, we may only have 1/10th the population, but we also only have one factory currently producing the swine flu vaccine. And it is also producing seasonal flu vaccine at the same time. Compare this to the US, where there is more than one company producing the vaccine, each with several factories.

Posted by diane b on November 20, 2009 at 10:27 AM