VANCOUVER (CBC) - Three more deaths linked to pandemic H1N1 swine flu have been confirmed in B.C., bringing the total number to 12, but provincial health officials say all but one of the victims had underlying health problems.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control said Tuesday one of the recent deaths occurred in the Interior Health region, while the other two occurred in the Fraser Health region, bringing the total number of deaths in that area to seven.
The Centre does not identify victims, but did report that two of the victims were women between the ages of 40 and 64, and one was a man in his 40s.
Meanwhile the number of people hospitalized with the virus jumped by 88 cases in the past week, nearly doubling the total number of hospital cases in B.C. to 199 as of Oct. 27.
The news comes as hundreds of people lined up for a second day at clinics and doctors offices around B.C., anxious to get vaccinated against the virus.
Because there is limited supply of the vaccine this week, health authorities are asking otherwise healthy people to wait until more vaccine becomes available in mid-November before going to get vaccinated.
As of Monday morning, clinics across B.C. started offering free vaccinations to:
Starting the week of Nov. 2, the people eligible to receive the H1N1 vaccine will expand to include the following groups:
In mid-November, everyone else who needs and wants the H1N1 vaccine should be able to receive it, health officials say.
