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Vancouver Coastal Health is including residents of the Downtown Eastside as a priority H1N1 vaccination group.

Outside of remote and isolated communities, the neighbourhood is the only place in B.C. that has been highlighted as having a highly concentrated at-risk population.

"The Downtown Eastside residents are a high priority because it is a neighbourhood with a large number of people with pre-existing medical conditions, obviously, and addiction issues, so they are very susceptible to complications with the flu," Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Anna Marie D'Angelo said in an interview.

Residents of Canada's poorest postal code join pregnant women, all people with chronic medical conditions, children under the age of five, isolated communities, health-care workers and care providers for at-risk people at the front of the immunization line.

Nurses in the Downtown Eastside are ramping up for an H1N1 immunization blitz which could get under way by the end of the month. "Our target is to immunize as much of the population as possible in the area," Ms. D'Angelo said.

Armed with a backpack full of supplies, an allergic reaction kit, a cooler of vaccine vials and a syringe disposal, nurses like Vancouver Coastal Health's Shabin Mere will bring the clinic to the patient.

"We go to our usual client homes, single-room occupancies, their apartment buildings, co-operative buildings, sometimes on the streets. If we do approach them on the street, we try to take them into a nice clean area where they can sit down and have their injection," Ms. Mere said.

A team of two nurses can immunize more than 15 people every day; during past campaigns, more than 6,000 people received vaccinations.

Many of the injections will also be given in community gathering places and will be advertised by word of mouth. Ms. Mere has already seen a heightened awareness about H1N1 in the community, adding most people she's spoken with are interested in the vaccine and are taking precautionary measures to prevent infection.

"To date," she said, "we haven't seen anything more than we would see in a typical flu season."

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