Toronto will be following the province's lead and restricting swine flu immunization in the coming days to people in the high-priority groups -- and turning away the anxious but well.

"We're expecting to get a very much reduced supply next week," Dr. David McKeown, the city's medical officer of health, told a Friday news conference. "Our clinics and our ability to give vaccine to doctors' offices and hospitals during the week of Nov. 9 will be very much less than we anticipated."

He said they are already getting good co-operation from Toronto residents, "but we're going to ask for a little bit more."

Those who are in a priority group include:

  • people with chronic medical conditions (eg., asthma, diabetes) under the age of 65
  • healthy children from six months to five years old
  • care providers and household contacts of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or may not respond to vaccines
  • health care workers
  • pregnant women

Women who are fewer than 20 weeks pregnant should wait until the unadjuvanted vaccine by the end of next week. Only women who are more than 20 weeks pregnant can be vaccinated with the adjuvanted vaccine, which uses an organic immunity "booster." 

McKeown said for the general population, "If you're a healthy adult, your chance of getting a severe case of influenza is very low."

In comparison, people in high-priority groups are at substantial risk of serious complications or possibly even death if they contract swine flu, he said.

The clinics should be able to administer 140,000 doses by Nov. 7, McKeown said.

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, the city's associate medical officer of health, said extra workers will be patrolling the lines to screen people, but also to hand out time sheets and consent forms to make the process more efficient.

Friday clinics

Friday's clinics were aimed at the high-priority groups.

Lineups at the Metro Hall H1N1 vaccine clinic started bright and early on Friday morning, but by about 2:30 p.m., all 2,100 vaccination tickets had been dispensed.

By 8 a.m. there were already about 600 people in line, even though the clinic for high risk people wasn't scheduled to open until about 10 a.m.

They are hoping to beat the huge crowds of people expected to line up again today at Toronto's two immunization clinics for priority groups at Metro Hall and Scarborough Civic Centre.

Officials at Metro Hall handed out numbers to the first 2,100 people, guaranteeing them a shot and giving them specific times when they should come back so they don't have to wait in line all day.

Toronto Public Health says it will process about 300 people an hour and stay open until all 2,100 people get immunized.

The changes come a day after clinics in North York and East York started turning people away six hours before the scheduled closing time due to the hundreds of people already waiting in line. In Halton Region, the line was so long, police were forced to close roads for the safety of those in the line up.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Janice Golding