Ron Liepert is a moron.
He has been quoted on the radio saying is it more than likely that Alberta will run out of H1N1 vaccine.
This is not a major surprise to me, and while it will fuel frustration and anger amongst people wishing to be vaccinated (it will also increase pressure on the current clinics as people swarm to them in hopes of getting vaccinated before the clinics run out) it is not a huge issue – more vaccine will come.
The reason I am saying Ron Liepert is a moron is that this mess could have been avoided – simply by prioritizing who gets vaccinated first.
1. Front-line emergency and health care workers. If our police, fire, ambulance, and medical caregivers are down with the flu, we’re in big trouble.
2. People with underlying medical issues which H1N1 would exacerbate.
3. Parents of, and children under 10.
4. Senior citizens.
5. Everybody else.
(that’s my preliminary list. It could in theory be tweaked)
Apart from keeping the lines shorter, it would also ensure people got vaccinated by risk level.
Ron Liepert was (and is) more concerned by optics than real public health issues, and that makes him a moron. Leadership is about sometimes doing what needs to be done despite it making you look bad. Liepert (and Stelmach) is not a leader.