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Next week, the province will finally be receiving it’s regular vaccine shipment of 20,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine, which is its largest shipment to date.

“We are extremely pleased to be receiving this volume of H1N1 vaccine,” said Health Minister, Doug Currie. “More than 43,000 people in the province have been vaccinated, which is more than 31 per cent of our population. As a result of finally receiving our expected amount of vaccine, we will be able to immunize more Islanders which will ensure we are all better protected from this strain of influenza.”

Provinces receive their vaccine supply through the contract in place with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the vaccine is delivered to provinces on a week-to-week basis per capita as available.

“Several clinics will be held next week to target individuals who are over 65 years of age with chronic health conditions and we will start to offer second doses for children age six months to 35 months,” said Dr. Heather Morrison, Chief Health Officer for the Department of Health. “We anticipate that given the amount of vaccine we are receiving next week, mass public clinics will most likely start by the end of next week. The public should continue to watch for further details on vaccination clinics early next week.”

“We would like to thank the public for their continued patience as we roll out our vaccination program first to those who are most at risk,” said Dr. Morrison. “I would also like to thank our public health staff for their dedication and commitment to providing this important program to Islanders. The staff should be acknowledged for their outstanding contributions in helping to keep Islanders healthy and for how hard they will continue to work in the coming weeks.”

For further information on upcoming clinics, the public should watch for advertisements, visit www.gov.pe.ca/flu or call 1-888-748-5454 for the most up-to-date information on immunization clinics.