Now that there is a surplus of flu vaccine in the United States, we have decided to stop updating CanadaFluShot.com.

Please note that we will keep the site online and functioning because we still receive search engine traffic regarding flu shot clinics in Canada - we have just stopped updating it.

We would like to thank everyone who visited CanadaFluShot.com.

Special thanks go out to the kind people who took precious time out of their busy lives to send us thoughtful e-mails. Your words were an inspiration and your kind consideration is very much appreciated.

Finally, we would like to thank all the kind doctors, nurses and office staff at Canadian flu clinics offering flu shots to Americans. Your efforts have saved lives and words cannot express our appreciation.

Note: Link has been removed because it was not resolving properly.

From the article:

Last fall’s flu shot shortage cause panic in millions of at-risk Americans. People stood in long lines, waiting for shots, and some even drove over the border into Canada where the vaccine was readily available.

Now, it appears as though this shortage has turned into a surplus with many states reporting that they have more than enough to meet the demand. The concern now is that some of this vaccine will go to waste unless doctors can convince their patients that it is still advisable for them to be vaccinated.

From the article:

As the clock keeps ticking on the fate of thousands of flu vaccine doses the state ordered from companies overseas, Gov. Blagojevich’s administration on Wednesday urged more Illinoisans to get shots soon to prevent the illness from wreaking havoc this winter.

Starting next week, local health departments and health-care providers who have ample supplies of the flu vaccine should give shots to people age 50 and over, and to those who live or work with the elderly, young children and other high-risk individuals, Blagojevich’s office said.

Thousands of people have not had shots this year because of a nationwide shortage that has since eased in some areas.

From the article:

"It’s very clear who is transmitting the flu, and how they are connected," says Dr. Ira M. Longini Jr., a statistician at Emory. "It is very clearly schoolchildren."

Dr. Longini, Dr. Halloran and their colleagues recently employed a mathematical model to estimate what might happen if 60 percent of American children and adolescents got flu shots. They found that flu deaths in people aged 65 and older could fall to 6,600 a year from 34,000. Hospitalizations could drop to 8,000 a year from 43,000. And the annual cost of caring for older people who get the flu could be cut from today’s $473 million to just $90 million.

Of course, it would be nice to know for sure that giving flu shots to children would stanch an epidemic. Dr. Halloran, for one, would like to see a national study, giving the vaccine to children in some places but not others and seeing what happens.

But… there may be another, easier way.

A few years ago, the province of Ontario in Canada began offering free flu shots to everyone, including children. Now scientists are starting to look at what happened to the spread of the disease there.

From the article:

An imaginative approach to the flu vaccine shortage in the U.S. was offered by the Victoria Clipper, a Seattle ferry service.

It was a sensible and a practical solution in that it combined a brief sea voyage with a vaccine injection at the end of the trip.

In October, the "flu cruise" became a short tourist trip to Victoria, Canada, where a team of registered nurses waited at the terminal to deliver the flu shot into the deltoid muscles of the off-loaded passengers.

There was no vaccine shortage in the medicine chest of our eager-to-help neighbor to the north. The purpose was to help worried seniors, especially.

It was a not a get-rich scheme of the operators taking advantage of worried Americans who merely wanted projection against influenza, that unpredictable illness which has victimized people all over the world.

According to Darrell Bryan, vice president of Clipper Navigation, which operates the catamaran Victoria Clipper, a discounted round trip price of $105 persuaded hundreds of Americans to take the 2 1/2 hour excursion from Seattle. The price for the vaccine was included.

Editor’s Note:

This article looks back at the Victoria Clipper flu shot cruises. We would again like to thank Clipper Navigation for offering Americans what was perhaps the most pleasant flu shot experience ever. Thank you all and we wish you a happy and healthy holiday!

From the article:

A Decima Reseach poll shows that two out of three Canadians didn’t get their flu shot this year.

The poll of 1,015 Canadians suggests that despite repeated media advertisements extolling the benefits of the flu shot, 28 per cent don’t believe it’s worthwhile.

The low number disturbs Dr. Mary Vearncombe, medical director of infectious diseases at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital. She’d like to see 70 per cent of the general population get the flu shot.

From the article:

In response to tempered demand and concerns that fresh supplies could go untapped, the state is now recommending that everyone 50 and older should receive a flu shot this year.

State health officials also now suggest vaccination for anyone living with or caring for someone at high risk of complications from the flu.

The U.S. supply of flu vaccine was cut in half earlier this year when a factory in Liverpool, England, was shut down because of contamination.

In response, the government recommended in October that healthy adults skip a flu shot this season to save vaccine for… the elderly, infants or those with chronic conditions. Each year, the flu kills about 36,000 people and hospitalizes 200,000 in this country.

After the shortage was announced, hundreds of U.S. residents flocked to Canada, where plentiful supplies prompted businesses to offer "flu packages" by way of ferry and bus.

From the article:

A week after lifting restrictions on flu vaccinations, Michigan public-health officials were encouraging the general public to get inoculated regardless of age or health, but many are forgoing vaccination or think it’s too late to develop immunity before the flu season is over.

In several states this fall’s vaccine crisis is a case of a shortage turning into a surplus.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fears with 62.5 million doses of vaccine eventually available that vaccine may go to waste if the public doesn’t use it soon.

Flu typically peaks in February but the season can stretch into April. This year flu is off to a slow start and has been mild compared to last year.

From the article:

As the temperature plummeted below freezing Tuesday, throngs of senior citizens waited for flu vaccinations at the Westerly Senior Center on State Street.

During the late morning and early afternoon, cars parked almost bumper-to-bumper along the streets surrounding the center. Inside, hundreds of seniors appeared to be standing in a line that went from the front desk, down a hallway leading to the cafeteria, where it wound around the edge of the room and between several long tables.

Walter Virginski stood near the front of the line, where seniors received medical forms to complete before their names where called over a microphone - which is usually reserved for bingo nights.

"It’s a shame for the infirm people that they don’t have an expedited line," said Virginski, a 63-year-old local resident who had been waiting in line for 11/2 hours.

"It’s a real hardship for people."

From the article:

The state’s prescription drug advocate said today the market for flu vaccine in Illinois will dry up if federal regulators do not soon approve the state’s request to buy shots from Europe.

He says it takes ten days to two weeks for the flu shot to be effective. If the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t give the state an answer soon, it will have to decide if it wants to still pursue approval or resell the vaccine.