OF ONE THING we're confident. Since experience elsewhere (particularly in the southern hemisphere) indicated strongly that the H1N1 virus that reached humans from Mexico's swine population last year was causing a world-wide pandemic that would hit Canadians sometime this fall, the best means of minimizing deaths and serious illnesses would be to have enough vaccine available for the entire population in timely fashion.

With that knowledge, Health Canada worked out a deal with pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (GSK) to provide 50.4 million shots of vaccine that would be made available once it was appropriately tested and approved.

Initially, the main controversy was over whether the vaccine should have been available for mass immunization sooner than the planned date of mid- November.

That controversy died down when the approval came sooner than expected, and GSK had already shipped out enough of the vaccine to the provinces to allow vaccination of health workers to start last week.

The second controversy, stemming mainly from wild claims on the Internet, was over whether the vaccine was really safe or necessary. The resultant confusion led to opinion polls suggesting that at least half the population had decided not to get the shots.

That controversy suffered a quick death last week with the news that two healthy young Ontarians had already died from the virus. By the time the first clinics opened for those perceived to be at high risk (young children, pregnant women and those with chronic respiratory problems), it was replaced by one over the incredibly long lineups at the few open clinics, especially in Toronto, where only about 10,000 of the 2 million residents had been vaccinated by Saturday morning.

Controversy #5 emerged at the weekend with the discovery that only a trickle of vaccine would reach the provinces this week, thanks to an instruction GSK received in mid- October to produce about 1.8 million doses of an adjutant-free version of the vaccine perceived by some (albeit not the World Health Organization) to pose fewer risks of side effects to pregnant women. Suddenly, public health agencies in Ontario that had expected to get 1 million doses of the vaccine were being told to expect no more than 170,000, and plans for clinics to open for the general public were put on hold.

At this point, we suspect we're not alone in feeling that the overall planning to combat the pandemic has been perfectly pathetic at just about every level, and that a full-fledged public inquiry into the resultant chaos is essential.

At the federal level, we need to be told what circumstances led to GSK halting mass production of the vaccineplus adjutant. Was Health Canada not told that it would disrupt the production? Did the deal with GSK prevent the 1.8 million doses of adjutant-free vaccine being produced by another drug firm?

Perhaps more importantly, should not the important task of producing vaccine against a pandemic not have been assigned to more than one drug house? (Even if the work was tendered, it could have been shared 60-40 by the two top bidders at minimal added cost to the taxpayer.)

At the provincial level, the overall planning seems to make little sense when one considers the massiveness of the immunization plan, the need for most if not all Ontarians to be vaccinated, and what is known about both the virus and the vaccine.

Unlike the ordinary seasonal flu, the "swine flu" has long been known to deal potentially deadly blows to healthy young children and adults in their prime and appears to be less of a threat to seniors who may have developed immunity over the years.

And unlike the seasonal flu shots, the H1N1 vaccine is delivered in bottles which when opened must be used quickly, making it unlikely that much of the vaccine will be ordered by doctors who aren't in large clinics.

In the circumstances, we're inclined to agree with Christine Elliott, who as Progressive Conservative health critic told the Legislature last week that flushot clinics should be in the schools and some clinics for the general public should operate on an around-the-clock basis.

As we see it, school clinics would be particularly valuable as the best means of targeting the younger age groups and minimizing the spread of the virus.

Perhaps the most glaring error we've seen is the absence of any provincial contingency plan to deal with potential public panic. One might have thought it possible in this era to have devised some means of preventing long lineups. In the absence of a Web-based appointments scheme, there should at least be pre-printed cards showing the holder the time frame during which the clinic would handle the particular bloc of 100 or so applicants.

Locally, we remain mystified as to why clinics aren't planned at locations with ample parking, such as Orangeville Baptist church, and why no public clinic is planned in Shelburne until November 17.