H1N1 VACCINE
York vaccine clinics full as H1N1 cases rise
October 28, 2009
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Theresa Boyle
HEALTH REPORTER
York Region announced this afternoon that only the roughly 600 people in line at each of its two H1N1 clinic locations – 1 Villa Royale Ave. in Vaughan and 100 Eagle St. W. in Newmarket – will get the vaccine today.
The cut-off was made because it was determined it would take until the 8 p.m. closing to get all the people in line vaccinated, the region said in a news release. People showing up now are being told to return to the clinics when they reopen at noon Thursday. They are welcome to line up earlier.
The two York Region clinics will be open over the weekend, with a third clinic – at Sutton Kin Community Hall, 3 Fairpark Lane in Sutton – opening Monday. Additional new clinics are planned.
Meanwhile, Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, confirmed an outbreak of H1N1 at Mount Sinai Hospital at a press conference this afternoon.
Mount Sinai declared the outbreak after three cases in patients and staff were confirmed at its adult intensive care unit.
“We don’t know whether they were acquired at our hospital or elsewhere, but when you have three cases that are close together and are linked to a unit, you think about it very carefully,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at the hospital, at a hastily-called news conference Wednesday evening.
“We know we’re going into a time when we are going to see more patients admitted with H1N1. We are not interested in taking any risks that we might have influenza transmission in our ICU. In that setting, despite the uncertainties. . .we made a decision to declare an outbreak and to take a number of precautionary measures.”
Staff and patients who might have been exposed to the virus in the intensive unit have been prescribed antiviral medications as a precaution. Patients with influenza are assigned to private rooms while caregivers must wear gowns, gloves and N95 masks to protect them from contracting the disease.
McGeer would not reveal any details of the three H1N1 cases, citing any reference could identify the individuals in the intensive unit, which only has 16 beds. All she could say was the trio became sick on Oct. 23.
Yaffe also said there is an increase of absenteeism in about 40 schools in Toronto, at which 15 are known to have an increase in influenza activity.
"The number of cases in Toronto is increasing significantly," said Toronto chief medical officer David McKeown .
There have been 115 confirmed cases of H1N1 since the beginning of September; 68 of those were reported last week.
That represents just the tip of the iceberg since most people are not being tested for the virus.
The City of Toronto is opening only two vaccination clinics tomorrow, not 10 as widely believed.
The two clinics are for priority groups only. They will be at the North York and East York civic centres. They will be followed by additional clinics for priority groups on Friday and Saturday. See Toronto Public Health's website for more information.
The entire complement of 10 clinics will open to the general public on Monday.
View a list of all GTA clinic hours and locations.
Find everything you need to know on our H1N1 page.
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