N.S. opens H1N1 clinics to all

All Nova Scotians are now eligible for the H1N1 vaccine.

Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief public health officer, said he felt comfortable expanding the eligibility group to include the general public because heexpects a steady supply of vaccine in coming weeks.

Until Friday, Nova Scotia's vaccination program was restricted to high-risk groups.

Strang saidnearly 70,000 doses are available and another 135,000 are expected early next week.

"This will have to be a multi-week campaign," he said at a news conference Friday. "We're not going to be able to vaccinate every Nova Scotian who still needs to be vaccinated today or tomorrow. It's going to take a number of weeks."

The increased supply means thatin addition to the mass vaccination clinics, more vaccine will be distributed to family physicians. The province will also work with private nursing agencies to set up occupational health clinics in someworkplaces.

Strang cautioned that depending on the demand, some districts may temporarily run out of vaccine in the coming days because not all the doses will be delivered at once.

"But as I've said all along, I'd much rather use the vaccine we have, run out temporarily and replace that as we get additional vaccine than to be overly conservative and keep vaccine in fridges," he said.

Health officials said they wanted to counter any feeling of complacency in the public about the H1N1 flu.

"H1N1 is still around, "Strang said. "It will be around for a number of weeks. It can cause very serious disease. We have people in hospitals and ICUs today because of H1N1."

Other provinces, including British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, have already expanded their inoculation programs to include the general public.

Nova Scotia has received 315,100 doses of the vaccine to date, andabout 20 per cent of the population have received shots.