IQALUIT - Nunavut could be one of the first jurisdictions in Canada to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available in the fall, according to Nunavut's chief medical officer Dr. Isaac Sobol.

Nunavut's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Isaac Sobol. - Gabriel Zarate/NNSL Photo

"I also expect, although it hasn’t been verified yet, that we may be a jurisdiction which receives the vaccine earlier than some other places in Canada," Sobol said.

Sobol said the Special Advisory Committee on H1N1, which is made up of the council for chief medical officers of health and the public health network council, has been having teleconference meetings twice a week to discuss responses to H1N1, also known as swine flu.

He said discussions around sequencing, which involves determining where the vaccine will go first if Canada's supply is not all available at once, have been focused on isolated communities.

"There is a lot of thinking now that in areas where there are isolated or remote communities, that would be a place where the vaccine might be distributed first," he said. "It is my expectation that it is very likely that will occur."

Sobol said the vaccine is expected to reach Nunavut in November.

"We're planning for mass H1N1 vaccinations in November as soon as we get the vaccine," Sobol said. "We're told the vaccine is expected between mid and late November, so we're working on that assumption."

Sobol also said the health department is gearing up to deliver the vaccinations to Nunavummiut.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure staffing is in place and a public campaign is in place to let people know about the vaccine and we hope we will get significant uptake of that vaccine," he said.

As of mid-August, 560 people in Nunavut had had lab-confirmed cases of H1N1 flu: 48 per cent of the cases had been in the Kivalliq region, 28 per cent in the Kitikmeot region and 25 per cent in the Baffin region.

Sobol said while people who have had H1N1 have built up natural immunity to that flu, the vaccine will be available to every resident of Nunavut.

"We think everybody in Nunavut who wants it should get the vaccine. We're making it available to everybody," he said.

He also said the department is not advising that schools be closed in the event of another outbreak of the flu.

"In keeping with the consensus in Canada, we're not recommending school closures," he said.

Sobol said he believes Nunavut is prepared to deal with a second outbreak of H1N1.

"We're very experienced now with this infection.

Virtually all the health centres have seen people with the infection, they know how to diagnose and treat and we have our antivirals in place," he said. "The public is also very much more aware of this infection and the precautions they can take to try to prevent spread. I think we're much better off than we were initially."

He said he believes the general public now knows that H1N1 has been affecting people between the ages of one and 55 and is also aware of the groups that are most susceptible to the flu, such as pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions.

Sobol said health centres are still treating people with H1N1 symptoms as though they have the virus.

"We're confident that even if we don’t test people, if they have a fever over 38 degrees and a cough, we are being reasonable in treating them as though they have H1N1," he said.

Sobol said anyone who believes they have H1N1 should go home immediately and contact their local health centre.