Nunavut starts swine flu shots Nov. 1

Nunavut health officials are set to kick off the first andlargest mass vaccination campaign in the territory next month, offering the H1N1 flu vaccine to allwho want it.

A16-day vaccination program will begin Nov. 1for all of Nunavut's communities, chief medical officer Dr. Isaac Sobol said Thursday.

A schedule will be finalized and posted on the Health Department's flu website next week.

"This is the first mass vaccination program in Nunavut's history," Sobol told reporters in Iqaluit, as he laid out details of Nunavut's $1.4-million plan to fight swine flu.

Sobol said enough doses of the swine fluvaccine havealready been shipped toNunavut to protect 75 per cent of Nunavummiut, and more can be ordered if needed.

Because the H1N1shot will be offered to everyoneeligibleto get it not justpriority groups such as pregnant women and those with chronic conditions Sobol said Nunavut will "be able to finish its vaccination program ahead of most other provinces and territories."

Teams to reach communities

"Five teams, including three nurses and support staff, will travel simultaneously throughout our regions to administer the vaccine,"Sobol said.

"They will join forces with local health centre staff in each hamlet to run the mass vaccination clinics."

The vaccination teams willtake charter flights to the communities, giving them flexibility in case of bad weather or mechanical delays.

The teams can also stay longer in communities that have a higher demand for the vaccine,mass vaccination co-ordinator Christine Hutchinson said.

Nunavummiut will be given the seasonal flu shot at the same time as the H1N1 vaccine, Sobol said.

Children under the age of six months will not be eligible for the flu vaccines, while children underage10 will receive the H1N1 shot in two half-doses.

Pregnant women can receive a different version of the vaccine, specially formulated to exclude an adjuvant,in the first week of November. An adjuvant is a substance, made of fish oil, water and vitamin E, that stimulates the body's immune response.

Sobol said women who are more than 20 weeks pregnant may end up taking the adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine if the non-adjuvanted version is not available and H1N1 infection rates start to rise.

But Sobol said H1N1 activity in Nunavuthas been "very low" for the past several weeks a contrast to the hundreds of swine flucases, mostly mild, thatthe territory reported this past spring.

Nunavuthas not seen any cases ofseasonal flu so far, he added.