N.S. swine flu program announced

The details of Nova Scotia's swine flu immunization program were announced Wednesday, hours after the federal government said Health Canada had authorized the use of the H1N1 vaccine.

"At the end of the day, we have a regulator — a very reputable regulator — with scientific expertise that would not license the vaccine if they were not completely comfortable it was safe," said Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief public health officer.

He said the first 52,000 doses of the vaccine arrived on Monday. Nova Scotia has ordered 1.4 million doses at a cost of approximately $4.5 million.

Strang said people in high-risk groups will start to be vaccinated next week, though he declined to say exactly when. He said it will vary depending on when the district health authorities finalize plans for mass immunization clinics.

He said the H1N1 flu vaccine is strongly recommended in the beginning for:

• Health-care workers.
• People younger than 65 with chronic health conditions.
• Pregnant women.
• Health children between six months and five years of age.
• People in contact with children less than six months old.
• People with compromised immune systems.

"It's not just for individuals protecting themselves, it's protecting themselves, their families and their communities, in many aspects," said Strang. "You won't get infected if you get immunized."

In addition the community immunization clinics organized by district health authorities, doctors will have the option to offer the vaccine in their offices. Private nursing agencies can also get the vaccine for workplace clinics.

The vaccine is also being given to hospitals and long-term care facilities so the staff can be immunized.

Strang said people who are at a high risk for the seasonal flu will be able to get that vaccine at the same time as the swine flu vaccine, one in each arm. The department had previously recommended otherwise.

"Our decision was based on the best information that we had available to us at that time," he said. "New data indicates that we can offer the vaccines concurrently."

'Second wave' of swine flu

Strang said the department has started to see increased H1N1 activity in Nova Scotia.

The Department of Health said there is a school in Antigonish where a number of students and staff are ill. One of the staff members has a lab-confirmed case of H1N1.

"It's probably an early signal that we're at the beginning of the second wave here, and we'll expect to see … lots of people being sick, lots of schools affected," said Strang.

He urged people to be immunized and said he is confident that the swine flu vaccine is safe.

"One-third of the people that have died in Canada have been exactly that — young and healthy — so you can take a gamble that you might die from this disease or you can get a very safe and effective vaccine that has a 90 per cent chance of protecting you."