Canada Unable to Respond to Afghan Request for H1N1 Vaccine

Josh Pringle
Monday, November 9, 2009

Canada is unlikely to send any H1N1 vaccine supplies to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has issued a plea for help to deal with a pandemic that has already killed 11 people across the country.

But Canadian civilian and military officials have said Canada’s stockpiles of the vaccine are too low to make doses available to Afghan civilians.

There have been 779 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus in Afghanistan since July, with 320 being foreign troops.

Ambassador Bill Crosbie says Canada will “try to help them, but it may be difficult to respond to the request for vaccine given the shortages in Canada.”

The Canadian military has started vaccinating soldiers.