Nova Scotia's chief public health officer said the public health system wasn't fully prepared to handle last year's H1N1 pandemic.

Dr. Robert Strang said while the province handled the crisis well, improvements could be made for the next time a pandemic hits.

The province released a report Wednesday on last year's pandemic. It said while many things were done well, there were some problems.

Strang said they weren't fully prepared to handle the demand for the vaccines, which lead to long lineups of people waiting to get the shot.

He said they need to do a better job of distributing vaccines next time.

Strang believes the province needs an electronic information system so it can track exactly who and how many are getting vaccinated.

Strang said Nova Scotia is working with Ottawa and the other provinces to develop an electronic system, but acknowledged it will be expensive and it could take years to get it up and running.

He also said the public health system needs to improve the way in which information goes out to people during a health emergency, especially young people.

Even though 20 to 24-year-olds were in the high risk group, they had the lowest rate of vaccinations.

Strang suggested that they need to use social media like Twitter and Facebook to get better get information out to those need it.