Burnaby NOW • Friday, November 16, 2012 • A03
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Flu shots now free for kids under five Marelle Reid staff reporter
It’s that time of year again when it gets dark early and people start missing work and school because of the flu. To help prevent the spread of influenza, the Fraser Health Authority is reminding residents the flu shot is free for those at highest risk of severe illness and those who are their close contacts or caregivers. New for this year, healthy children between the ages of six months and five years, and their contacts and caregivers, are also eligible for the free vaccine. “The flu season really gets going in November and December, so we urge everyone to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available,” said chief medical health officer Paul Van Buynder, in a recent press release, noting it takes between 10 and 14 days for the vaccine to become effective. The health authority estimates between 10 and 25 per cent of the population is infected with the flu each year. A person can have the flu virus without knowing it, however, and pass it to someone else who may become seriously ill. About 200 to 300 people in the Fraser Health region – mainly seniors – die each year from flu-related complications, such as pneumonia. “The influenza vaccine is the best protection against influenza illness and its complications and is a safe and effective way to help people stay healthy, prevent illness, and even save lives,” Van Buynder noted. Last year, Fraser Health supplied about 300,000 annual flu shots, and this year aims to deliver 365,000 vaccinations in the region. Free shots are recommended and provided for the following groups: people age 65 and over and their caregivers, children and adults with chronic health conditions and their household contacts, healthy chil-
Larry Wright/burnaby now
Hold still: Nurse Dawn Waters gives Margaret Langner a flu shot at a flu shot clinic at the Edmonds Community Centre. Flu shots are free for those at the highest risk of severe illness, as well as close contacts and caregivers.
dren ages six months to five years and their caregivers and contacts, aboriginal peoples, health-care workers, emergency responders, pregnant women who will be in their third trimester during flu season, residents of nursing homes and other chronic care facilities, owners and operators of poultry farms, people who are very overweight
(body mass index higher than 40), corrections officers and inmates in provincial corrections facilities and those who provide care of service in potential outbreak settings such as crew on ships. There are several upcoming free flu shot clinics scheduled in Burnaby at various locations this month with more coming up
in December and January. For a complete list of dates and locations, visit www.fraserhealth.ca or visit www. health.gov.bc.ca/flu. Residents should bring their care card or other government I.D. (such as a valid driver’s licence) and wear a short-sleeved shirt.
MP says feds have mismanaged fisheries Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
The Cohen Commission has released its report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye, and while there’s no smoking gun to account for their diminishing numbers, there are recommendations that the federal government to stop promoting salmon farming. The Conservatives called for an inquiry into the state of Fraser sockeye after 2009 saw the lowest return in five decades. After years of work, Bruce Cohen, head of the commission, presented the final report to the public. “Some, I suspect, hoped that our work
would find the ‘smoking gun’ – a single cause that explained the two-decade decline in productivity – but finding that a single event or stressor is responsible is improbable,” said Cohen. John Reynolds, an SFU professor and the Tom Buell B.C. leadership chair in salmon conservation, was not surprised. “That is what I also felt,” he said. “It’s actually an interaction of several different problems salmon face.” Reynolds testified as a witness in the hearings and reviewed scientific reports for the commission. Cohen’s final report outlined a number of “stressors” on the salmon as potential causes for their decline, but the inquiry
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revealed how much is still unknown about those stressors and how they work. Cohen made 75 recommendations for government, and according to Reynolds, management was the most crucial issue. The commission recommended that Fisheries and Oceans Canada no longer be responsible for promoting the salmon farming industry. “As long as DFO has a mandate to promote salmon farming, there is a risk that it will act in a manner that favours the interests of the salmon farming industry over the health of wild fish stocks,” Cohen said. Cohen also called for implementation of the federal government’s “wild salmon policy,” a blueprint for conservation and sustainability of wild salmon.
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Fin Donnelly, New Westminster MP and NDP deputy fisheries critic, said Cohen’s report was comprehensive but blamed government for mismanagement of the fisheries. “This is a $26-million study, but what it points out is a legacy of Conservative mismanagement, from their inaction on climate change to the gutting of fisheries,” he said. Donnelly highlighted a number of issues in the report affecting wild salmon: climate change, habitat loss, pollution and aquaculture. He called on the government to implement the recommendations. “They’ve only said they will look. That’s the response I’m getting in the House (of Commons),” he said.
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