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http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Calgary+essential+workers+waiting+vaccine/2161645/story.html
Calgary's essential workers waiting to get vaccine
By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary HeraldOctober 30, 2009Comments (12)
CALGARY - As absentee rates climb among city police and firefighters, the man in charge of the City of Calgary's response to the swine flu pandemic is frustrated enough to consider hiring a private health-care company to administer the H1N1 vaccine to staff on the front lines -- if he could get any.
Tom Sampson, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, believes first responders and other essential services workers should be allowed to join health-care workers at the front of the line for the vaccine. He said he's been asking Alberta Health Services for access to the vaccine since Oct. 19.
"Regretfully, I've yet to be able to secure any vaccine, although we have a provider who's prepared to administer it for us who's separate from the health system," said Sampson.
"Our position is, if you give us the vaccine, we will administer it our own staff.
"We looked at the long lineups that started this week and, realistically, we can't put 4,000 essential services staff into those lineups. It's not good use of taxpayers' money."
The absentee rate in the Calgary Police Service has doubled, said Sampson, and tripled in the Calgary Fire Department.
"We think it's prudent timing now to implement a vaccination program for those essential personnel within the City of Calgary--those people who keep the core of our city operating."
He's been told that may not happen until the second week of November.
For now, essential service workers will have to get in line with the public at the mass immunization clinics, said Sheila Rougeau, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services.
"First responders, whether that be EMS, fire or police and other essential workers . . . are all important, and we are working very hard to immunize as people we can, as quickly we can," said Rougeau.
"It's only because we have to balance the resources and the vaccine supply that we currently have, which is why we can't expand on the program right now."
Since Monday, doctors, nurses and other health-care workers have been first in line for H1N1 flu shots at four city hospital clinics.
Open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., they're exclusively for health-care workers, said Mac-Donald. Their family members are not allowed.
As of Wednesday, 14,744 health-care workers had been vaccinated; 38,000 across Alberta.
AHS has approximately 90,000 health care workers.
Until Wednesday, one group of health-care providers new to the AHS fold didn't realize it could access staff clinics.
Some of Calgary's 500 paramedics and emergency medical technicians had been standing in line at mass immunization clinics, or getting shots in hospital when they brought in patients, said Rick Fraser, head of CUPE Local 3421, the union that represents them.
"Part of the problem has been the transition of EMS from the City of Calgary and other municipalities into Alberta Health Services. It's also the transitioning of how we communicate internally," he explained.
"Because EMS are now considered health-care providers, they are one of the priority groups that we want to get vaccinated as quickly as possible," said Rougeau.
vberenyi@theherald.canwest.com
? Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Calgary's essential workers waiting to get vaccine
By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary HeraldOctober 30, 2009Comments (12)
CALGARY - As absentee rates climb among city police and firefighters, the man in charge of the City of Calgary's response to the swine flu pandemic is frustrated enough to consider hiring a private health-care company to administer the H1N1 vaccine to staff on the front lines -- if he could get any.
Tom Sampson, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, believes first responders and other essential services workers should be allowed to join health-care workers at the front of the line for the vaccine. He said he's been asking Alberta Health Services for access to the vaccine since Oct. 19.
"Regretfully, I've yet to be able to secure any vaccine, although we have a provider who's prepared to administer it for us who's separate from the health system," said Sampson.
"Our position is, if you give us the vaccine, we will administer it our own staff.
"We looked at the long lineups that started this week and, realistically, we can't put 4,000 essential services staff into those lineups. It's not good use of taxpayers' money."
The absentee rate in the Calgary Police Service has doubled, said Sampson, and tripled in the Calgary Fire Department.
"We think it's prudent timing now to implement a vaccination program for those essential personnel within the City of Calgary--those people who keep the core of our city operating."
He's been told that may not happen until the second week of November.
For now, essential service workers will have to get in line with the public at the mass immunization clinics, said Sheila Rougeau, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services.
"First responders, whether that be EMS, fire or police and other essential workers . . . are all important, and we are working very hard to immunize as people we can, as quickly we can," said Rougeau.
"It's only because we have to balance the resources and the vaccine supply that we currently have, which is why we can't expand on the program right now."
Since Monday, doctors, nurses and other health-care workers have been first in line for H1N1 flu shots at four city hospital clinics.
Open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., they're exclusively for health-care workers, said Mac-Donald. Their family members are not allowed.
As of Wednesday, 14,744 health-care workers had been vaccinated; 38,000 across Alberta.
AHS has approximately 90,000 health care workers.
Until Wednesday, one group of health-care providers new to the AHS fold didn't realize it could access staff clinics.
Some of Calgary's 500 paramedics and emergency medical technicians had been standing in line at mass immunization clinics, or getting shots in hospital when they brought in patients, said Rick Fraser, head of CUPE Local 3421, the union that represents them.
"Part of the problem has been the transition of EMS from the City of Calgary and other municipalities into Alberta Health Services. It's also the transitioning of how we communicate internally," he explained.
"Because EMS are now considered health-care providers, they are one of the priority groups that we want to get vaccinated as quickly as possible," said Rougeau.
vberenyi@theherald.canwest.com
? Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald