Update: Victoria Compounding Pharmacy

We have just received the following e-mail from the Victoria Compounding Pharmacy:

Steve, we are down to our last 200 doses. We are still offering our clinics on Tuesday and Thursday beyween 12-1PM and 4:30-5:30 PM until our supplies are gone.

We were pleased to assist some of our U.S. friends in their time of need.

Thank you so much for your kind message and for making flu vaccines available to people in need from both sides of the border. Your compassion will probably save many lives this year. Words cannot express our gratitude.

Update: Urgent Care Niagara U.S. Flu Shots Now Seven Days a Week

Fort Erie Urgent Care e-mailed Canada Flu Shot the following update:

U.S. FLU SHOT UPDATE!

NOW SEVEN DAYS A WEEK

Our regular U.S. Flu Shot Program will continue to provide 150 U.S. Flu Shots per day - NOW 7 days a week until the end of November and possibly into December (based on volumes).

The fee for the US Flu Shot is $40 USD (or $50.00 CDN) - we would prefer to receive cash to expedite the process.

We would like to thank Urgent Care Niagara for their kind update and for making flu shots available to Americans.

UPDATE: Victoria Clipper No Longer Offering Flu Package

The Savannah Morning News reported on November 15th, 2004, that the Victoria Clipper is no longer offering the flu package:

A ferry service that had been offering cruises from Seattle to Canada - plus a flu shot - has ended the package deal.

The Canadian clinic providing the coveted vaccine to the Victoria Clipper can no longer guarantee a supply…

Note: Victoria Clipper still has the flu shot package listed on their website.  Please contact them before making the trip - their website may not have been updated yet.

U.S. Residents Flock to Get Flu Shots at British Columbia Clinic

U.S. Residents Flock to Get Flu Shots at British Columbia Clinic (Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

From the article:

Hundreds of people drove across the Canadian border to take advantage of a special flu vaccine clinic for U.S. citizens.

The Travel Medicine & Vaccination Center of Vancouver sent three nurses and 500 doses of flu vaccine to the Osoyoos Senior Center, a five-mile drive from Oroville, Wash., for the two-day clinic that began Friday.

A long line of mostly elderly shot seekers greeted workers Friday morning. Nurse manager Diane Loewen said 250 shots were quickly administered, only a handful to Canadians.

WHO Warns of Flu Pandemic

WHO Warns of Flu Pandemic (Source: VOA News)

From the article:

The World Health Organization says public-health officials and governments worldwide should be preparing for a possible global influenza outbreak - a health emergency that could kill millions of people.

Experts from 11 countries - including representatives from vaccine manufacturers and health laboratories, regulatory authorities and health ministries - issued the warning at a two-day meeting in Geneva on how to prevent a future pandemic - a worldwide outbreak of disease with possibly catastrophic consequences.

The last two flu pandemics occurred in 1957 and 1968. Both caused millions of deaths, although they were smaller in scale than the worst flu outbreak in modern history, which killed up to 50 million people early in the 20th century, just after World War I, in 1918-1919.

Health Workers to Get Flu Shots

Health Workers to Get Flu Shots (Source: The Olympian)

From the article:

People willing to travel to Canada should have no problem finding a flu shot.

Some clinics in Canada say they have plenty of flu shots remaining and welcome residents of the United States, whether they’re healthy or in high-risk groups.

"There’s really no supply problem," said Dr. Paul Assad of the International Travel Health Clinic in Surrey, British Columbia.

It gives out 450 shots on the clinic’s busiest days but has given more than 100 just about every other day.

Assad said 98 percent of the people they’re seeing are from the United States, and most are from Washington.

Most of the visitors are from high-risk groups, although they’re giving shots to anyone who asks, he said.

"We don’t do any screening at all," he said. "We don’t need to because the supply is there."

Pennco Transportation, a bus tour company based in Carlsborg, also offers trips to Canada for shots (see Royal Tours and Charters in our British Columbia Flu Shots section).

For $95, it offers pickups from Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend, Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow en route to Victoria, B.C., for the shots, which are an additional $15, and a tour of the city.

It also picks up from Seattle and Tacoma for an extra charge.

"The bus is full every time," said Debbie Wood of Pennco Transportation, who estimated they’ve taken about 300 people to Victoria for the shots.

She said they’ve been assured by the clinic in Victoria that there will be no shortage of flu shots.

Update: Urgent Care Niagara U.S. Thanksgiving Flu Shot Clinic

Fort Erie Urgent Care e-mailed Canada Flu Shot the following update:

SPECIAL U.S. THANKSGIVING FLU SHOT CLINIC

Nov 24th thru 28th

We are open during U.S. Thanksgiving and will be extending our U.S. Flu shot Clinic to include Saturday and Sunday of the U.S. Thanksgiving Weekend. With additional staffing we will be able to deliver a higher volume of Flu Shots during this time … we will not have to turn anyone away!

Flu shots will be provided from 10am to 5pm from Wednesday November 24th through to Sunday November 28th.

We would like to thank Urgent Care Niagara for their thoughtful update and for making flu shots available to Americans.

In Minnesota, Flu Vaccines Go Waiting

In Minnesota, Flu Vaccines Go Waiting (Source: New York Times)

From the article:

In most places, people are clamoring for flu shots - waiting in lines, calling every clinic in town, even going to Canada. But in Minnesota, the opposite problem has emerged: even people considered most vulnerable are forgoing the shots so there will be enough left for others.

This puzzling reaction has left state health officials charmed, but also urging an estimated 1.6 million high-risk residents to be vaccinated.

People like Kristen Ehresmann, manager of the immunizations section of the Minnesota Department of Health, are trying to spread the word that the state still has about 120,000 flu shots left, and that the most vulnerable need not go without.

"They call it Minnesota nice," Ms. Ehresmann said. "People feel that they should defer for someone who needs it more."

Some Cities Using Lotteries to Ration Flu Vaccine

FLU SERIES - Scrambling for Vaccine: Some Cities Using Lotteries to Ration Flu Vaccine (Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy)

From the article:

Massachusetts residents in at least three communities are hoping to obtain flu shots through the luck of the draw as local health departments seek the fairest way to distribute limited vaccine supplies among those who need them the most.

In Massachusetts, the Holyoke, Quincy, and Upton health departments are conducting lotteries.

About 1,600 eligible Quincy residents had entered their names for the flu-shot lottery as of yesterday, said Karen McKim, RN, a public health nurse in the city health department. The city received about 1,000 doses from the state and had separately purchased another 300 doses for city employees, she said. Now all 1,300 doses will be used for seniors and the chronically ill.

"We have a high senior population and we found it [a lottery] was probably the fairest way to do it," McKim told CIDRAP News.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Flu Shot Provider:
Travel Clinic

Address:
601 W. Broadway, Vancouver, British Columbia

Phone:
604-736-9244

Price:
$50 US

Hours:
Call to make an appointment.

Other:
Still has a small amount of flu vaccine.