Pregnant women refused H1N1 vaccine in Ottawa.

This was on Radio-Canada.

A group of pregnant women in their first trimester who had been waiting for hours in an Ottawa community health centre for the vaccination against H1N1 flu were told to go home. A health care worker told them that the only form of vaccine that they currently had in stock was the type with an adjuvant. The women were told that health authorities had decided NOT to administer this form of the vaccine to women in the first 20 weeks of their pregnancy.

Unfortunately this information was not communicated to media or to front line health care workers who could have determined from a preliminary triage that these women were candidates for the non-adjuvanted form of the vaccine, which won't be available until next month to clinics. I just checked the CBC news site, it still only identifies all "pregnant women" as a priority group.

One wonders how many of these pregnant women will become ill from being exposed - while waiting for hours in a community centre clinic - to a great number of people, contagious with other illnesses.

It would appear that on the Gatineau side of the river, in spite of other confusion, at least that message was clearly provided.

Update: Urgh - some public health officials are waffling about the risks of the adjuvant administered to first-trimester pregnant women, lots of loose talk about balancing danger of getting H1N1 if one has a pre-existing health conditions and the effect it might have on fetal development. More attemps to cover all eventualities and all asses. Urgh.