Harper's hedge on H1N1 shot sparks confusion

Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have added to the confusion about theH1N1 vaccine on Wednesday byappearingto hedge on whether he would get immunized against the swine flu virus.

But Harper's comments come while the country's top pandemic planners are trying toconvince peoplethey should take the shot and that the vaccine is safe.

Harper was askedwhether he and his family will get the vaccination against the H1N1 influenza A virus that causes swine flu and when he would like the vaccine to beavailable.

"My plan, if it's generally recommended for people to get the vaccine, my plan is to get the vaccine,"he answered at a news conference near Edmonton on Wednesday.

"But as yet, of course, we haven't actually made a final decision or set a date. We're, as you know, right now, waiting [for] final approval of the vaccine, but we expect that imminently."

Federal public health officials have engaged in what they are callingthe largest immunization campaign in history, trying to spread the message that the H1N1 vaccine is the best defence against the disease.

Harper's aides later said the prime minister actually meant he would get the shot if it was approved, not if it was recommended.

Meanwhile, health officials havealso been criticizedfor not getting the vaccine out quickly enough compared with other countries.

At a news conference in Winnipeg to announce H1N1 research funding, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Canada remains on track for getting the H1N1 vaccine in time for health-care workers to administer it starting in the first week of November.

No step will be skipped in the process of testingthe safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, she said.

Canada's vaccine approach

Canada's chief public health officer counteredcriticism of the delay, saying Canada's priority is to target the most vulnerable groups first, such as pregnant women or those with underlying medical conditions, and then to make the vaccine available to everyone who wants it.

"The advantage in Canada that we have is that while we may not start first with a few people[like other countries] we will very quickly be able to immunize everybody in Canada who wishes it, in advance of the real peak," said Dr. David Butler-Jones.

Clinical trials are underway to determine how many doses of the vaccine are needed for different age groups, he said.

The U.S. has decided to start by giving a live virus version of the vaccine in nasal spray form first, but it is only an option for healthy adults, Butler-Jones noted.

Australia has started giving H1N1 shots for people over the age of 18 while health officials wait for clinical data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in children, one of the groups at high risk for serious disease.

China only has a tiny amount of vaccine relative to its total population, Butler-Jones told reporters.

But those doses still need to be shipped, nurses and other health-care professionals who administer the vaccine need to be trained to use it, and mass immunization clinics need to be set up in provinces and territories that put the vaccine into arms a huge logistical challenge, he said.

Also on Wednesday, Aglukkaq announced another$2.4 million over two years will support five new research projects on the H1N1 flu virus.

The research will be funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.