Child age range wrong in vaccine ads

Advertisements for vaccine clinics that appeared in newspapers Wednesday suggesting thatfive-year-old children can get H1N1 vaccinations are wrong, Alberta Health Services said.

The ads incorrectly say that children agedsix months "to" five years will be vaccinated when clinics reopenThursday.The ads should specify that the upper age limit is children who were younger than five on Nov. 1.

"We are looking at making the ads read a little more clearly," said Dr. Gerry Predy, senior medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services. "It is less than five years of age."

There are no plans to alter the age range for Thursday's vaccinations because of the error, andcorrected ads will appear in Thursday's newspapers.

The Alberta Health Services website has the correct wording and a list of clinics that will be open.

The vaccinations are targeting the strain of H1N1 influenza A virus causing the current swine flu pandemic.

The province halted vaccination clinics on the weekend, blaming a national vaccine shortage and overwhelmed health-care workers.

Vaccinationswill resumeThursday for young children only, and clinics will begin also accepting pregnant women on Friday. The inoculation program will expand to other high-risk groups once supplies of the vaccine are replenished.

Provincial politicians and health officials have come under heavy public criticism for not restricting vaccinations to high-risk groups during the first week of the program, as was done in other provinces.