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Published - Nov 5th, 2009
By By Lynne Turner
The lack of rescheduling a cancelled clinic in Arthur where people can get the flu vaccine has upset Arthur Pharmacist Joe Walsh. He has even volunteered space in his store, offered to open late to host a clinic and found a nurse willing to give the shots - but he can’t get the vaccine.
Walsh asked MPP Wilkinson, in an email sent Monday, why Arthur is excluded from having an after hour flu clinic when smaller towns, such as Drayton, are having two.
“I have talked to the two doctors in town and they have enough vaccine to do high priority patients,” Walsh told the MPP in the email. “But what if someone, like my wife, has a doctor out of town who isn’t giving flu shots? Why do Arthurites have to travel to another town?”
Walsh maintains that the lack of clinics in Arthur will result in less people getting the shots. It will also result in longer line-ups in neighboring communities where clinics are being held.
Walsh received a reply from Paul Milton on MPP Wilkinsonís behalf.
“John’s office has spoken with the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit. The WDGHU confirmed that they had to cancel originally planned clinics due to vaccine and staffing shortages,” Milton wrote in an email.
He said WDGHU has established “clinics within 30 minutes driving time of population centres (and) have scheduled clinics up to Christmas to provide an extended immunization period.”
There will be clinics at the Mapleton Health Centre in Drayton on Nov. 25 and Dec. 16, both from 2 to 7:30pm and at the Palmerston Community Centre on Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 from 2 to 7:30pm. A clinic was scheduled for Mount Forest on Wednesday, Nov. 4 and another will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 2 from 2 to 7:30pm at the WDG Public Health office.
Milton thanked Walsh for his “very generous offer to donate space and labor in Arthur” but said “WDGHU will have the greatest insight and credibility for determining the effective and efficient administration of this immunization program. I can’t see political interference in medical sciences being safe or prudent.
He said he sent a copy of Walsh’s email to Shawn Zentner, Manager, Health Protection, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health “who will be able to communicate with you directly on this matter.”
Milton also pointed out “the province receives weekly shipments of vaccine which are deployed to the 36 public health units across the province. Each public health unit decides how to best administer the vaccine in their area which could include distribution via public health clinics, community health centers and/or individual physiciansí offices.”
“Who works for whom?” Walsh asks. “Get the Health Unit to take a clinic away from another site and put it in Arthur.”
If you find this unacceptable please contact your local MPP John Wilkinson’s office at 1-800-461-9701.
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