Large crowds attend vaccination clinic, public urged to remain patient

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An apparent sea change of public opinion about getting the H1N1 vaccine seems to have taken place just in the past few days, and that has led to some unexpected consequences for health officials.

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GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

Hundreds, if not thousands of men, women and children line up to receive their H1N1 flu shot at the Dieppe New Brunswick Community College yesterday morning.

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

Errol and Penny Guitard with baby Jansen keep warm yesterday in the lineup.

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

When members of the Dieppe NBCC student council looked outside at the mass of people waiting for their H1N1 flu shot, they got together some coffee and hot chocolate and soccer balls and balloons for those waiting. Here, president Karine Dufresne sets up a new pot of hot chocolate.

Chantal and Isabelle Theriault of Dieppe fill out forms required to receive the H1N1 flu shot yesterday.

Hundreds and possibly thousands of people descended on the New Brunswick Community College campus in Dieppe yesterday and lined up for an average of three hours to get the vaccine, even though the clinic was supposed to be only for members of what are considered to be the priority groups.

The number of people who each got a dose of the vaccine wasn't precisely known at press time, as the clinic was still running into the evening.

It's possible some of those hundreds didn't meet the proper criteria but showed up anyway. However, informal surveys of those in line yesterday suggested the number of New Brunswickers legitimately among the priority groups is plenty large.

For the record, the priority groups are people under the age of 65 with chronic medical conditions; children aged six months to less than five years old; pregnant women; schoolchildren; people of aboriginal ancestry; health-care workers; women who have had a baby in the last six weeks; and household contacts or those who care for either an infant under six months old or an immunocompromised person. (Schoolchildren are being vaccinated in the schools, and most health-care workers at hospitals.)

Lise Roy, Regional Health Authority A's vice-president for planning, quality and privacy, admitted yesterday there were some "bumps and humps" to iron out because of the surprising demand for the vaccine.

"When we were planning, we were under the impression we'd have to push and pull people to get the vaccine," Roy said, adding nevertheless that the day's problems were the good kind to have for the sake of public health. "We were hoping people would respond."

The biggest change in Metro Moncton was that the clinic originally planned for the Public Health office on Albert Street in Moncton had to be moved to the community college in Dieppe to handle the large crowds. That was surely for the best, given the masses of people and the lack of parking on Albert Street, but it was an inconvenience for those who hadn't learned of the change of plan.

In some cases, people had been dropped off in taxis that had gone before those seeking vaccinations learned of the change.

While there were reports of staff at Public Health blaming the Times & Transcript for the error, the newspaper in fact received its information directly from health authorities Wednesday night and printed it as it was provided.

Also a frustration yesterday, the 1-800-580-0038 information line set up by the Department of Health to answer the public's questions didn't merely have long wait times yesterday. At times yesterday afternoon it wasn't answering any questions at all. Instead it offered a recorded message saying because of unusually high call volumes, calls could not be answered. However, during another test of the system early last night, there was a wait, but calls were being taken.

All in all though, Roy said the system was adapting to the surprising level of demand. In the matter of finding enough health professionals to administer the vaccine, for instance, she said "just yesterday (Wednesday), when we realized so many people were presenting themselves, in just a couple of hours we rounded up about 50 nurses."

Roy said the main message to the public was that there would be enough vaccine for everyone, and people were being urged to wait for the clinics aimed at them.