Four clinics in the central region of the province, set up to administer the H1N1 vaccine, have run out of vaccine.
Clinics in Springdale, Botwood, Grand Falls-Windsor and St. Alban’s closed today after distributing all their vaccine shots.
Health Minister Jerome Kennedy told reporters that vaccine from other areas of the province will be shipped to the central region so some of the clinics could reopen Wednesday.
The minister also said that two more deaths were reported over the weekend.
A 40 year-old woman from the Labrador West region of the province has been confirmed as the eighth person to die from swine flu.
The other death may be related to the H1N1, and is being investigated by the province’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Simon Avis.
That means a total of seven deaths are being investigated as possibly linked to the H1N1 virus.
Kennedy said an update on Avis’ investigation will be given in the next day or two and again sent condolences to the families and friends of the people who have died.
The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Faith Stratton, also updated reporters on the latest numbers of hospital admissions, which she said are starting to plateau.
As of 8 a.m. today, 10 additional people were admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms, two of those people were on intensive care units (ICU) with one of them on a ventilator.
The total current numbers as of this morning are 75 hospitalizations with 25 in ICU and 18 on ventilators.
Full story in Tuesday’s Telegram