Canadians Swamp Clinics For H1N1 Vaccine

October 29, 2009 8:26 p.m. EST

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - Results of a recent survey which said that a large number of Canadians are wary of getting inoculated for the Influenza A (H1N1) virus appears to no longer hold water. An official declaration that the second wave of swine flu pandemic has hit the country had Canadians swamping clinics for the immunization shots.

It helped that the declaration was accompanied by reports of seven new deaths due to the swine flu virus, changing the minds of some residents who have apprehensions about the safety of the adjuvanted vaccine against the H1N1 virus.

Among the new H1N1 fatalities was 13-year old Evan Frustaglio, a Grade 8 student and hockey player who did not have any medical condition and died over the weekend after displaying only minor symptoms of the flu.

Among the provinces where residents were reported queuing three to six hours for the shots was in Alberta, which had to add 11 more vaccination sites to cope with the deluge of Albertans seeking protection against the virus.

In Ottawa, public health officials said 20 percent of schools in Canada's capital city have absence rates of 10 percent or more.