It's just a flu and it's just a vaccine.

Just to be clear, I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person and, as I spend a good deal of time with my husband the communist and my parents, the super-liberal and the skeptic, I am also especially well disposed to a great deal of distrust for anyone who stands to make money from a negative situation. All of this considered, I would love to believe that the H1N1 vaccine is some international conspiratorial plot to either a) fill tax paying citizens with mercury and poisonous neurotoxins or b) turn out the near-empty pockets of a world economy choked by recession for those last few coins and some lint. But no matter what I read or hear, I just can’t make the leap.
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Last week I found an interactive map on the Globe and Mail website that provides a big-picture look at the number of confirmed H1N1 hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths by province/territory and for Canada as a whole. Today, I found another great resource courtesy of the National Post.

The image illustrates how H1N1 vaccines in Canada originate from GlaxoSmithKline, the sole provider of H1N1 vaccines in Canada, and ultimately reach the general population. The image also indicates the eligibility groups province by province and provides up-to-date information on the roll-out so far.

Here is a summary of the content provided:

British Columbia:

- 1.16 million doses received.
- Over 900,000 injections thus far.
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Now we’ve got Alberta’s health officials telling people to relax and take it easy if they’re not in a high-risk category; Dr. André Corriveau, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health went on to say, “…we plan to have everyone vaccinated by Christmas.” Hang on a second… did he say Christmas? BY CHRISTMAS! Holy Mother and all the Saints! What’s going on? I better check the Public Health Agency of Canada’s site. Oh my Lord! CHRISTMAS! It wasn’t a mistake.

It looks like Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and B.C. are all suffering from Glaxo-Smith Kline’s production “hiccup.” The vaccine producer is unable to keep up with the demand for its product. It’s hard to blame the people who are making the stuff for not keeping up with a demand that wasn’t even there a couple of short weeks ago, but what about the bunch who sounded the alarm?

I would like suggest something to the communications department of Health Canada in the event that we face similar future emergencies. Please think your messaging strategy through thoroughly before you carry it out. When dealing with a highly emotional/stressful topic (like the H1N1 pandemic) consider the most likely, as well as the less probable, effects that your words will have on the target audience – and then tailor your messages to dispel anxiety rather than provoke it. Oh yeah, one more thing: Never tell your audience to get vaccinated when there’s no vaccine in the larder; that’s just asking for trouble.