News Conference with Minister of Health and Chief Public Health Officer

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health
November 17, 2009 – 11:30 EDT

Thank you.

Before we get to your questions today, I’d like to take a brief look at some of our achievements to date in our efforts to fight the H1N1 flu virus. Our goals from the outset have always been to minimize serious illness and overall deaths, and societal disruption among Canadians. And we’re achieving those goals thanks to years of planning and months of hard work translating our plans into action with provinces, territories and medical professionals across Canada. So what have we achieved? By week’s end we will have distributed 10.5 million doses of a safe, and very effective, vaccine across the country. This is almost as much as is distributed in a regular flu year, and there is much more vaccine to come.

Canadians are paying attention, and doing the right thing by getting vaccinated. And it is paying off in a major way with fewer deaths and serious cases of the virus so far in the country. This is tremendous progress in when one considers that no Canadian had heard of H1N1 just seven months ago. What’s more, national and international data is showing that the vaccine is producing an immune response of about 94 per cent in people who receive it. This is remarkable, because normally response to vaccine during the seasonal flu is about 60 - 80 per cent.

While we have made significant progress, I want to stress once more that we are dealing with a complex and unpredictable virus that obliges federal, provincial and territorial governments to adapt in real time. W are all being asked to digest new information quickly as it becomes available from across the country and from around the world. That is why I encourage people to continue to keep informed of latest developments by consulting local health authorities or visiting our website.

Getting vaccinated is the best defence for you and those around you. I want to thank all Canadians for their patience during what is the biggest vaccination initiative in Canadian history. The vaccine is getting out there and we will have enough for everybody across the country.

Thank you. Dr. Butler-Jones will now deliver a few remarks.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer

Thank you, Minister.

We’re now well into the second wave of this pandemic, and as a result well into the national vaccination campaign. Which brings me to restating a few important points the Minister made. Based on the number of doses of vaccine we have distributed, and the rate at which the provinces have been administering it, we can estimate that at least 20 per cent of Canadians have been vaccinated. I want to put that in perspective. That means that if one of us has been vaccinated in a room of five people, that person can’t get the virus and spread it to the other four. Imagine how much that’s reducing the risk of infection. And imagine how much further that risk goes down as more of us get vaccinated. We’re not giving the virus a place to live, and we’re not letting it spread. Yes, the individual risk on average is low. If one of us gets the flu, our chance of dying is actually very, very small. But when you spread that over millions and millions of people, it is a very large number.

This week, for example, we are seeing a sharp increase in the number of deaths associated with H1N1. It’s important to remember that we’re at a point in this pandemic where deaths are to be anticipated. It’s unpredictable to a large extent. Of those who get sick, it's still difficult to predict who will develop severe illness that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Of the total population, somewhere around 10 million of us have the potential to get ill if we’re not at some point immunized. At the end of the day, the only way to prevent that is to immunize, and carry out basic preventive measures like handwashing, coughing in your arms, staying home if you’re sick and ensuring appropriate treatment.

Some people may have concerns regarding the possibility of an adverse reaction to the H1N1 flu vaccine. We take all reports of serious adverse events seriously and all such cases are investigated. The Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, with the collaboration of provinces and territories, the Canadian Paediatric Society and a network of researchers are also actively monitoring serious adverse events following immunization to the H1N1 flu vaccine. This surveillance began once the immunization campaigns started. Here is what the monitoring has shown us. This information will be posted on fightflu.ca and will be updated regularly. The most frequently reported events were minor, and included nausea, dizziness, headache, fever, vomiting and injection site reactions.

There were several reports of allergic reactions consisting of a variety of symptoms and signs including hives, swelling, redness or rash on the skin, tingling of the lips or tongue, a tightness in the throat and/or difficulty breathing, and nausea. These have onset mostly within minutes of immunization and have been treated promptly by clinic staff.

That said, with any vaccination campaign, we expect to see cases of serious adverse events. They are very rare, but they are part of all mass vaccination campaigns and we expect to see a very small number of them.

Serious adverse events are reactions that cause life-threatening illness, hospitalization, disability or death, like a severe allergic reaction, paralysis, or a seizure.

From the launch of the vaccination campaign to Nov. 7 -- out of the 6.6 million doses distributed -- there were 36 serious adverse events reported. Among them were several reports of febrile seizures -- a seizure brought on by high fever -- and anaphylaxis -- a severe allergic reaction that can be life threatening. Tragically, one of the reported cases of a severe event was fatal and is being investigated.

It’s important to remember that just because a medical event follows vaccination, it may not have been caused by the H1N1 flu vaccine. It may have been caused by other factors. Events are carefully investigated to determine if they are related to the vaccine directly, or if they were caused by an underlying health condition or some other reason.

Canadians can be assured that to date the frequency of serious adverse events is less than 1 per 100,000 doses distributed, which is what is seen in other vaccines.

The benefits of immunization, the prevention of serious illness and death, far outweigh any theoretical risks associated with being immunized.

While Canadians have made remarkable progress in getting vaccinated and getting ahead of this virus, there’s no reason to be complacent.

We still have the other side of the hill to come down, which means millions more potentially infected.

Finally, I also wanted to echo the Minister, in stating that all governments are making decisions in real time. I think is also a very important point.

We have to respond and adapt, as new information becomes available. All governments around the world are facing the same realities.

Having to be flexible and adapt on the basis of new evidence is common with any disease outbreak—for example, with seasonal flu. This is what public health professionals and experts do.

We have been saying for years that a pandemic would occur sooner or later.

This foresight has proven itself as Canada now has the most secure supply and the most number of people immunized as a percentage of population of anyone in the world. And all Canadians who want protection will be able to receive the vaccine, we believe, before the end of December.

As the Minister alluded to, we’re in one of the best positions in the world. The immunization campaigns in every province and territory are well underway.

As we make decisions based on new evidence, there may be more surprises. But it’s because of our experiences in dealing with outbreaks and our planning that we are better able to adapt to new challenges.

Thank you. Merci.