Health Canada has informed provinces and territories it expects the supply of H1N1 vaccine being shipped across Canada to be lower next week because of a bottleneck in the production line.

GlaxoSmithKline Inc., which is producing the Canadian order of 50.4 million doses at its plant in Ste-Foy, Que., told Health Canada that it had to use one of its production lines to make a special adjuvant-free version of the vaccine for expectant mothers.

"This resulted in reduced adjuvanted vaccine availability next week," Tim Vail, director of communications for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, said in a statement late Thursday.

The version of the vaccine that does not contain an adjuvant – an additive that stretches supply and boosts immunity – was ordered for expectant mothers because there is no clinical data available on the effect of the adjuvant in pregnant women.

The vaccine containing an adjuvant is for the rest of the population.

"(GlaxoSmithKline) assures us that they will be back up to providing (provinces and territories) with millions of doses the following week," Vail said. "We continue working closely with both (GlaxoSmithKline) and provinces and territories to ensure all Canadians who want to be vaccinated will be been immunized by Christmas. We remain on track to meet this goal."

Vail noted the government expects to have delivered six million doses of the vaccine across the country by the end of this week, which he said is more vaccine per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Vail said more than 2.2 million doses have been sent to Ontario so far.

"This is the first week of one of the largest mass immunization campaigns in Canadian history," Vail said. "We ask Canadians to be patient while those who need the vaccine most, get it first."



Meanwhile, Bridgepoint Health is dealing with a confirmed H1N1 outbreak with 11 patients and five health-care professionals at one unit of the hospital. The affected people are being treated with antiviral medication, and staff and patients at the unit are receiving antivirals and the H1N1 vaccine, the hospital announced in a press release.

