No guarantee everyone vaccinated by Christmas: Poirier

There is no guarantee that everyone in the province will be vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus by Christmas, Quebec’s chief public health officer says.

Dr. Alain Poirier's comments contradict Health Minister Yves Bolduc, who has maintained he is confident the province will complete its swine flu vaccination campaign by the end of December.

Speaking at the government’s daily H1N1 briefing on Monday, Poirier confirmed the country’s sole manufacturer of the vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, has yet to reach its "cruising speed" and is producing less of the vaccine than expected.

He said it is unclear when the province will receive enough doses of the vaccine in order to complete its vaccination campaign — or whether that will happen by the end of December.

Poirier said officials expect to receive up at least 450,000 doses of the vaccine this week. But he said the province is still waiting to hear whether that amount will continue to grow next week.

"I wouldn’t say that there are problems with the production," Poirier said. "Reality is always a little different than [what has been] planned."
One half-dose for children

Also on Monday, Poirier said the province has also yet to decide whether children between the ages of six months and 9 years old will get a second half dose of the vaccine.

Poirier said his federal counterpart, Dr. David Butler-Jones, is still recommending children receive a second half-dose of the vaccine 21 days after their first shot.

However, Poirier said, the province’s immunization committee has said there is no evidence yet a booster shot is necessary. So far, study results have shown that in a small sample of children, a half-dose of the vaccine with the adjuvant has been successful in providing sufficient protection against the virus, said Dr. François Boucher, a pediatrician and member of the committee.Quebec's chief public health officer Dr. Alain Poirier says the province has no plans yet to offer children a booster shot against the H1N1 virus.Quebec's chief public health officer Dr. Alain Poirier says the province has no plans yet to offer children a booster shot against the H1N1 virus. (CBC)

"Eventually we might need … [a second half-dose]," Boucher said. "But preliminary results from the ongoing studies that are being done on this vaccine do show that 100 per cent of children three to 36 months [old] seem to need only one to be correctly protected.

"Currently ... the main focus of the [vaccination] program is to immunize as many children as possible with at least one dose because the benefit of that is much higher than trying to catch the maybe few children who will not have enough [protection with] … one dose," Boucher said.

Vaccination of school-aged children in the province is expected to take between two and three weeks, Bolduc said.

Children from more than 3,400 schools will be bused to vaccination centres.

Thirty-two people in Quebec have died from complications from the flu since Aug. 30.