1st H1N1 vaccine doses shipped to provinces

Canada has shipped two million doses of swine flu vaccine to provinces and territories, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Monday.

"Two million doses of vaccine have already been shipped to provinces and territories to facilitate the implementation of their programs, once authorization is given,"Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones,said ata news conference.

The approval process is well underway,and clinical trials to test the vaccine have started, Aglukkaq said. "Pre-positioning" the vaccine across the country before the approval comes is part of good planning, she said.

Theclinical trials will test the vaccine on tens of thousands of people, includingbabies over six months of age and aboriginalCanadians.

The two million doses all include a chemical booster known as an adjuvant,said Butler-Jones. It's anticipated that eventually three million doses per week or more will be available across the country, he added.

The federal government has also purchased nonadjuvanted vaccine for pregnant women and young children. It's too soon to say when those doses will be available, Butler-Jones said.

Flu clinic planning

On Monday,the Waterloo health region in Ontario announced that its first swine flu vaccine clinic will be open on Nov.3. Other regions across Canada are expected to have similar clinics running within weeks.

The plan has been to give local health authorities until early November to organize the rollout of the pandemic vaccine. But privately, it has been co-ordinating an earlier rollout for weeks, CBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis reported on Sunday.

British Columbia and the Northwest Territoriesare well into their flu seasons,with sporadic flu activity elsewhere in the country, Butler-Jones said.

If the vaccine is approved this week, it will help reduce the spread of swine flu, said Dr. Kevin Katz, medical director of infection prevention and control at North York General Hospital in Toronto.

"We know that it takes about 10 to 14 days from the time someone's immunized until they're actually protected against the virus," said Katz. "So, adding a week is certainly a helpful thing."

The two million doses of vaccine are currently stored in 80 warehouses at secure locations across the country. Now, the challenge for local health authorities is to organize the logisticsof administering those doses.