subject: Demand Drops For H1n1 Vaccine In Canada [print this page] According to Medical Translation personnel, the province of Ontario, Canada has made bold plans to immunize three quarters of its population with the H1N1 vaccine. "To date about 30 per cent of the province's population has been immunized against H1N1," said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health. Since April, Ontario has seen 106 deaths from H1N1 and 1,672 hospitalizations and the national death stands at 360.
One problem that might be creating a bottleneck involves public education. While Ontario is not officially a bilingual province, in practice, it is. Because of the large number of French speaking Canadians in Ontario, the Government of Ontario has been forced to develop education programs for both English and French speaking audiences. Some areas that have been particularly troublesome are concentrated in cities such as Hawkesbury, Clarence-Rockland, Ottawa, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst.
According to one Medical Translation worker, "We are far from being in the clear. Many people are still susceptible." She continued, "The best way to prevent an even larger problem c will require everyone rolling up their sleeves and getting the vaccine." Unfortunately, demand for the vaccine has seen a sudden drop off in recent weeks. When the first shipments of the vaccine arrived, the demand was so great that families waited for hours in snaking lineups, some in the rain. But after the rush to get the vaccine, the demand dropped dramatically and several health clinics eventually closed.
