A handout file photo shows a technician holding a master H1N1 virus sample, for the pre-production of a vaccine against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus at a GlaxoSmithKline laboratory in Dresden, Germany. (REUTERS/GlaxoSmithKline)The federal government will order 50.4 million doses of swine flu vaccine, and will pick up 60 per cent of the cost, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Thursday.
The number of doses is enough for all Canadians who want and need to be vaccinated against the H1N1 pandemic virus, said Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada.
The total cost will be more than $400 million, Butler-Jones told reporters.
Canada's pandemic influenza plan calculated that about 75 per cent of Canadians might want or need to be vaccinated during a pandemic.
Results from trials of the avian flu vaccine suggest one dose should be enough, particularly since Canada's flu vaccine supplier, GlaxoSmithKline, is using an additive known as adjuvant, he said. Adjuvants are used to boost immune response from vaccines.
The vaccine order is large enough to give one dose to every Canadian, or two doses to 75 per cent of the population, he said.
