Feds order more vaccine for pregnant women, children

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Feds order more vaccine for pregnant women, children

Updated Fri. Sep. 25 2009 3:24 PM ET

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Canada has ordered more swine-flu vaccine for pregnant women and children.

The country's chief public health officer, Dr. -, says 1.8 million doses of unadjuvanted pandemic vaccine have been ordered.

That's up from the original order of 1.2 million doses from GlaxoKline, Canada's pandemic vaccine manufacturer.

The unadjuvanted vaccine is reserved for pregnant women, who are at significantly greater risk of becoming severely ill and dying if they contract the virus, and children under three years old.

There are no data on the use of adjuvanted flu vaccine in pregnant women -- a fact that may add to the already-high degree of reluctance many pregnant women feel about taking any medication or therapy.

Adjuvants are compounds that boost the immune system's response to vaccine, allowing smaller doses to be used per person.

The government has also ordered some 50 million doses of adjuvanted vaccine for everyone else.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090925/vaccine_orders_090925/20090925?hub=Health