Now that they have the non-adjuvanted vaccine, Ottawa Public Health is working with hospitals to ensure that pregnant women have rapid access to it.
A vaccination clinic focusing on pregnant women will be set up at the Riverside Campus of the Ottawa Hospital from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, said Ottawa medical officer of health Dr. Isra Levy.
Sixty vaccinators will be on hand to deliver both the adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted vaccine to pregnant women.
“Of course we’re hoping enough supply will be available for everyone who wants it, but by our best estimates, that will be the case this Saturday,” Levy said.
The city received 5,500 doses of the non-adjuvanted vaccine earlier this week and began administering them Thursday.
Levy estimated there are approximately 7,000 pregnant women in Ottawa at the moment.
“Many of those have already been vaccinated and we know unfortunately some of those don’t want to be vaccinated, so the number of pregnant women in Ottawa who still need to be vaccinated is between 3,000 and 5,000,” Levy said.
The Ottawa Hospital is seeing increased numbers of patients with H1N1, said hospital president and CEO Dr. Jack Kitts. “It’s now impacting on elective surgery because it’s the only place we have the option to increase capacity … It’s not something we take lightly.”
