Rob Shaw
Canwest News Service
04/21/2010
B.C. could throw away almost $20 million worth of H1N1 vaccine because it went unused during swine flu season and will soon expire.
Only 40 per cent of B.C.’s population chose to be vaccinated against H1N1, which meant roughly 2.5 million of the 4.3 million doses ordered by B.C. were unused, said Ida Chong, minister of healthy living and sport.
The government had planned to keep much of the leftover vaccine in case of another outbreak, because the doses were supposed to be good for 18 months.
But on April 9, Health Canada abruptly reduced the best-before date to only six months because the adjuvanted H1N1 antigen was shown to decline in strength over time.
That left B.C. and other Canadian provinces with millions of leftover doses and an unexpectedly short expiration date. One batch of B.C.’s vaccine expired March 31, a second expires April 30 and a third expires May 31.
“This was not planned, this was a vaccine that when we acquired it we were advised had an 18-months’ shelf life,” said Chong. “The fact it has been revised is something that has just come to our attention 10 days ago.”
B.C.’s H1N1 vaccines were available free to the public late last year. The $34-million bill was split 60-40 between the federal and provincial governments, leaving B.C. to pay $13.7 million. A loss of 60 per cent of the vaccine could mean provincial taxpayers spent $8.22 million on unused vaccine.
Chong said it wasn’t wasted money because Canadian provinces were advised to order enough vaccine for everyone as part of the country’s pandemic plan.
“We would have, perhaps, been equally criticized if we hadn’t purchased enough,” said Chong.
She said the government is discussing the problem with Health Canada and vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to see what it can do with its surplus and whether it can recover any money.
The Canadian government purchased 50.4 million doses of H1N1 vaccine on behalf of the provinces and vaccinated, on average, more than 45 per cent of the country.
B.C.’s stockpile of 34,000 unadjuvanted vaccinations will expire within original timelines.
B.C.’s opposition NDP said the government should review how it handled H1N1. Healthy living critic Jagrup Brar said he’s asked for more information from the government because, in fairness, it was an unprecedented event.
Other provinces have also been caught off-guard by the changes to vaccine expiry dates. Manitoba reportedly stands to lose $2 million and Saskatchewan may have to dispose of 470,000 unused doses, at an unknown cost.
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said it’s unfortunate many residents were unwilling to be vaccinated.
Still, a vaccination rate of 40 per cent of the population is enough to prevent a third wave of H1N1, he said, adding B.C. will include H1N1 as part of its seasonal flu shots this fall.
Chong said she’d like to see anyone in B.C. that was not vaccinated for H1N1 to take advantage of the shots before they expire.
B.C. had 1,059 confirmed cases of H1N1 between April 2009 and February 2010. Of those, 56 people died, most of whom had underlying medical conditions. Across Canada, 428 people died of H1N1.