Updated: Fri Nov. 06 2009 4:31:45 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

Ontario will be getting 770,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine next week, including enough of the variety to allow the vaccination of all pregnant women in the province, the province says.

"I want to assure you that once we have this shipment, we're going to do everything we can to get it in Ontarians' arms as quickly as we possibly can," Health Minister Deb Matthews told a news conference in Toronto on Friday.

She said it was of particular importance to get pregnant women vaccinated, as the vaccine protects both the mother and the unborn child.

Women who are fewer than 20 weeks pregnant are advised to use an unadjuvanted vaccine, which means it lacks the booster agent used in the regular, adjuvanted vaccine.

Due to vaccine shortages, the province urged people who are not in priority groups to wait their turn. The priority groups are:

• people with chronic medical conditions under the age of 65
• children from six months to less than five years old
• household contacts and care providers of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or may not respond to vaccines
• health care workers
• pregnant women
• people living in remote areas

The province has stated it wants to get its current vaccine supply of 2.2 million doses into Ontarians' arms by the end of this weekend, although officials also say they aren't currently asking health units to provide reports on how the effort is going.

Some units are running into supply issues.

Peel Public Health says it will be closing its swine flu vaccine clines for a four-day period starting Sunday due to a vaccine shortage.

Four clinics will reopen next Thursday with new hours, the agency said Friday in a news release.

"Peel residents in the priority groups are encouraged to contact their family doctor who may be able to vaccinate them," it said.

"Pregnant women and those with children 6 months to one year should contact their doctor or call Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine."

Peel has four main clinics:

• Brampton Soccer Centre and 11 Indell Lane in Brampton
• International Centre and Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Mississauga

Those clinics will be open next Thursday and Friday from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (the original hours had been 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.) and next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Caledon clinic at the Albion Bolton Community Centre in Bolton will be open Thursday and Friday from 3 - 8 p.m.

Upon re-opening, the Peel clinics will continue to target the high-priority groups.

On Wednesday, Matthews warned that some public health units could start running out of the adjuvanted vaccine, which contains a booster ingredient. Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline resumed making the adjuvanted vaccine on Tuesday after stopping to make the unadjuvanted variety for women fewer than 20 weeks pregnant.

On Thursday, however, Toronto Public Health announced it would be extending the hours of its 10 swine flu clinics, having them operate from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On Sunday, there will be five locations open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

• Metro Hall
• East York Civic Centre
• North York Civic Centre
• Etobicoke Civic Centre

Dr. Arlene King, the province's chief medical officer of health, told Friday's news conference that supplies can vary between public health units. The province has about 100,000 doses in its central warehouse, and can attempt to backfill where possible, she said.

Swine flu activity appears to still be on the rise in Ontario, she said.

The number of deaths is 37 since April, which is unchanged since Thursday. There are 136 people currently in hospital, 64 of whom are in intensive care.

Ontario's population as of July 1 was slightly more than 13 million people.