THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay District Health Unit has received its shipment of this season's flu vaccine.
A spokesperson says staff are now working to make the vaccine available to high-risk members of the community by distributing it to long-term care homes, hospitals and health care providers.
Diana Gowanlock, manager of infectious disease programs for the TBDHU, said the Ministry of Health has not yet declared the official launch date for immunization programs, but she expects it will be during the week of Oct. 22.
Gowanlock said the health unit plans to utilize "a more targeted approach" for its flu clinics this year, and will provide more information about the rollout by the end of the coming week.
Local pharmacies that are providing immunization shots, she said, should receive their vaccine orders later this month.
According to Gowanlock, recent outbreaks of respiratory illness at two Thunder Bay-area nursing homes were "negative for influenza on preliminary testing," which points to a different respiratory virus as the likely cause.
Information from Public Health Ontario indicated that the most recent circulating respiratory virus in the province was rhinovirus.
A federal government FluWatch report for mid-September showed 20 laboratory-confirmed cases of Influenza A across the country, a low level which is normal for this time of year.
