Swine flu shots soon for everyone in N.B.

The general public in New Brunswick should be able to get swine flu shots by early December, according to the province's chief medical officer of health.

"We are hopeful that over the next week, or two weeks, we will be able to get to all of those in the priority groups who want a vaccine," Dr. Eilish Cleary said Thursday during her weekly update on the pandemic.

"After that, we are hopeful and again, this is dependant on our supply that by the week starting the 30th of November, or the week after that, we will be able to make vaccine accessible to all New Brunswickers."

Cleary alsosaid most children will not require a second shot, as previously thought. But any child between six months and three years old should have two, she said.

Numbers increase

Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized because of the swine flu continues to climb, from 83 last week to 112 as of Thursday. Most are under the age of 30, Cleary said.

Ten people wound up in intensive care and two people, bothwith underlying medical conditions, died.

"What we are seeing here, I would say, reallyfalls inthe mild range," Cleary said.

But the virus hasn't peaked yet and there's been no levelling off of the number of cases, so there's no reason to become complacent, she said.

"Even if we do reach the peak of the second wave, we still will probably only have had about 25or 30 per cent, at the very very most, of the population affected, and so that still leaves a lot of people out there who are susceptible."

For now, public health officials will continue to focus on getting the rest of the priority groups vaccinated, including people with chronic illnesses, such as weakened immune systems, heart conditions and diabetes, she said.