The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, October 30, 2009 HEARING AID SPECIAL (Clients portion) *Some Conditions Apply * $ From 295 Up to 3 Year Service Warranty 60 DAY GUARANTEE: If after 60 days we have not provided you with the best hearing possible, we will give you your money back... NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER OUCH: Seven-year-old Alysha Church gets her H1N1 flu shot from registered nurse Shirley Bottaro. We are an authorized clinic for DVA, WSIB, and Green Shield clients Call People were patient 905-827-7333 For a FREE Hearing Test. Age 18+ Continued from page 1 "Certainly with the media coverage, people have been hearing the messaging we've been putting out," he said. "The real rush may also have to do with the unfortunate deaths of two kids this week. When those two kids' pictures are put on the front page of a national newspaper, people certainly take notice." Traffic was snarled on Bronte Road, as parked cars overflowed from the Halton Regional Centre's parking lot onto both sides of Bronte Road. At one point, the road was closed due to safety concerns. Halton Regional Police Service closed Bronte Road to traffic in both directions between North Service and Upper Middle roads early Thursday afternoon due to the immunization clinic. Those parking a far distance from the Centre were being shuttled from their cars to the main building. Bylaw officers were handing out $60 tickets to many of those parked illegally in the afternoon, which stopped once police and the Health Department was informed of this, according to Nosal. He said staff is appealing to the Town of Oakville to rescind the tickets. Health staff was added shortly after the clinic opened to help reduce wait times. Nosal said more than 50 health staff were working at Wednesday's clinic. The health department is considering adding extra staff and extending hours for future clinics. Changes in clinic times will be posted on the Region's website at www.halton.ca. This week's clinics were intended to be for only those at high risk, such as 17-year-old Oliver Edridge, who has brain cancer and was waiting in line in a wheelchair with his mother, Leslie, and 11-year-old sister, Haylee. "We came out today because Oliver has brain cancer and is at high risk," said Leslie. "We've always gotten flu shots. I've always read about the problems and side effects, but it has still always been worth it for our family." Leslie said she worries about her family contracting H1N1, as many students in Haylee's Grade 6 class at Tom Thomson Public School in Burlington are away sick with flulike symptoms. The family was near the back of the line when they arrived at 3:30 p.m., as it took them 30 minutes to find a parking spot. After waiting for an hour, health staff moved the family ahead of the hundreds already waiting due to Oliver's condition. Leslie was greatly relieved about this. "He couldn't stay outside in this weather for hours in his condition," she said as she wheeled him indoors. Nosal asks the public to give those in the high-risk groups, such as health care workers, pregnant women in the second half of their pregnancy, children aged six months to five years, and chronically ill people under age 65, first access to the clinics held before Nov. 2. "For the rest of the week, please, if you are not in the target risk groups, wait until Monday," he said. Despite the long wait on Wednesday, many people said they felt that the health department was doing everything it could. Halton was not the only region with higher than anticipated turnouts, as Peel and York regions were also flooded with people wanting the vaccine. The first person in line at Wednesday's clinic arrived at 11 a.m., armed with a blanket and chair. Even those who came at 3 p.m., like Tara Vella, who is 26-weeks pregnant and brought 17-month-old daughter Madeleine, were still behind several hundred people. "I figured it would be this busy because it is all over the news and people are panicking probably," said Vella. There will be nine vaccination locations across Halton starting Nov. 2, which should ease the wait time, Nosal said. He added that as early as next week, hospitals and doctor's offices will also be coming to pick up doses of the vaccine to be administered at those sites. He recommends people phone ahead to see if and when the vaccine will be Hopedale Hearing Clinic In Hopedale Mall, next to the CIBC 1515 Rebecca Street, Unit 38, Oakville · 905-827-7333 OAKVILLE'S ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP Enlist today! INDOOR & OUTDOOR FITNESS TOTAL BODY CONDITIONING River Oaks Community Church 2435 Munn's Avenue East 5:30am and 6:30pm 905.808.4055 www.survivorbootcamp.com Small Class Sizes Ensure Guaranteed Results. See Flu page 5