Podunk Below the Masthead, Thursday, October 22, 2009

Northern Health prepares for vaccinations, City West is ready to throttle your traffic and Canpotex say they haven't made their mind up yet, some of the items of note in the news for Thursday.

Daily News,Front page, headline story
HINI VACCINE COMING TO THE NORTH COAST-- We're not sure if they've decided that the flu is so important, that like a Super Bowl it deserves Roman Numerals or not, but the front page of Thursday's Daily News changes the name of the virus as it outlines the roll out of the H1N1 vaccine for the North coast. As we outlined on the blog on Wednesday, Northern Health like all other health Authorities across Canada are preparing for the launch of the H1N1 vaccine which will be provided to the highest risk cases first then to the general public by the middle of November. (see story below)

CityWest will be using a recent CRTC decision to make decisions on which accounts will have their traffic managed in the community. They will be using the information acquired to slow down the Internet speed of customers who they believe are using more than what the company believes is their fair share of bandwidth

CN is looking to the future and better days for container traffic and better economic results for the railroad. CN officials continued to speak highly of their connection to the Port of Prince Rupert and their desire to see more volume coming out of the port and onto the railroad's northern line (see story below)

The High school soccer scene and the latest results from the Prince Rupert City Basketball League made up the bulk of the Thursday sports section.

(All posted Daily News Archive Articles for October 22, 2009 )

CFTK TV 7 News
School District 52 Releases H1N1 Pandemic Response Plan -- School District 52 has finalized the Pandemic Response Plan an eleven page document that outlines every conceivable situation and response to it that could come if the anticipated arrival of the H1N1 flu is severe (see article here) (see the SD 52 Response plan here)

Northern View
Canpotex confirms that decision on expansion has yet to be made-- The latest details on the status of Canpotex's decision schedule on the potential location of it's new Potash Terminal for the West coast (see article here)

Daily News, Front page, headline story
HINI vaccine coming to the North Coast
By Monica Lamb-Yorski
The Daily News
Thursday, October 22, 2009

Within hours of the federal government’s approval of the HINI flu vaccine on Wednesday morning, Northern Health received 23,000 doses of the vaccine.

They immediately began distributing it in preparation of vaccination clinics beginning the first week of November - earlier if possible.

“The first allotment will go to priority groups such as those under 65 that have chronic health diseases, residents in isolated communities both geographical or access-wise, and women half way through their pregnancies,” said Eryn Collins, communications officer for NH Wednesday afternoon.

Once those priority groups are served, the vaccine will be made available to other groups who would benefit the most, such as children under five years old, health-care workers and household contacts and care providers of infants and people with low immunities. The vaccine will then be made available to members of the general public in a phased approach.

“When people are eligible for their H1N1 vaccine and if they fall under the usual guidelines for seasonal flu, it will now also be possible for them to receive both shots at the same time,” stated the Ministry of Health Services.

According to Collins public health staff, physicians and trained pharmacists will be able to administer the vaccine. It will all depend on what is decided at the local level.

Details about the location of clinics and who will be giving the shots in Prince Rupert and outlying villages is presently in the planning stage, but as soon as those details have been determined, the information will be made available to the public through local media, health units and websites such as Northern Health and Immunize BC.

“Anyone with low immunity or someone who thinks they might be suffering from H1N1 can call 811 – our health link,” Collins added.

On Wednesday B.C. pharmacists were given the legal authority to administer drugs by injection if they are certified through a training program. Locally, Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist Trisha McLeod, who moved to Prince Rupert from Winnipeg two and half months ago, has been taking that training.

She completed the online portion of the program on October 15 and heads down to Vancouver at the end of this month for a hands-on session, including First Aid and CPR training.

“We will spend a full day with a registered nurse and another pharmacist who has had the training,” said McLeod.

When she returns, she will be able to administer the regular flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu vaccine.

In a press release issued by the provincial government Wednesday about the laws changing to allow pharmacists to do vaccines, Health Minister Kevin Falcon said expanding the role of pharmacists gives patients more choice for, and increased access to, health care.

McLeod will join over 150 pharmacists from across B.C. that have already completed the certification program.

The BC Pharmacy Association is the first to offer an accredited training program for pharmacists to learn injection skills.