H1N1 Vaccine Queue-Jumping in Canada Raising Controversy

With limited amounts of H1N1 vaccine available in Canada, priority groups include pregnant women, young children, and the infirm. Yet perceived queue-jumping by athletes, hospital board members, and the wealthy is rising public ire.

It's a long-held principle that the Canadian health care system treats citizens equally, regardless of status or ability to pay. But the roll-out of the swine flu vaccine across Canada is challenging that assumption. Across the country this month, reports have come to light of alleged queue-jumping while thousands of Canadians have been forced to sometimes wait hours for their shots. Perhaps the most high-profile examples have been the sports teams, mostly hockey clubs, which have had their players vaccinated for swine flu. In Moncton, New Brunswick, the local minor-league team, the Moncton Wildcats, had their team vaccinated, as have the Abbotsford, BC, Heat. Professional teams include the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the Toronto Raptors, an NBA team owned by the Maple Leafs. “While all professional athletes are considered high risk to exposure and transmission of the flu due to excessive contact with other players, heavy travel requirements and public exposure, only certain players and staff have received the H1N1 vaccine,” a statement from the Maple Leafs organisation said. Several members of the sports teams had contracted H1N1, prompting the clubs' decisions. But politicians and health officials were quick to slam the sports teams. "We have focused the priorities of who is to be immunized first based on who is at greatest risk of severe disease and dying, not on who is more likely to be exposed," David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, told the Globe and Mail. Meanwhile, another controversy erupted when it was revealed that board members and executives at the Mount Sinai Hospital have also received the H1N1 vaccine ahead of the general public. The vaccine was offered to board members along with hospital staff including nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff, according to the Canadian Press. The move was criticised by Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews, who pointed out that executives are not health care workers, and should not receive priority unless they fall into another high-risk category. "It just isn't right that a six-year-old has to wait and someone else with better connections can go ahead," Matthews said. And in British Columbia, concerns are being raised that several privately-run clinics are offering the H1N1 vaccine to their clients, with virtually no wait time compared to that which Canadians are facing at public clinics. Clients pay several thousand dollars annually to visit such clinics. The concern is that wealthier Canadians can access the vaccine much faster than those who cannot afford to pay such fees, as the United Food and Commercial Workers claimed in a recent statement. But Don Copeman, founder of one such clinic, the Copeman Health Care Centre in Vancouver, claims that they are following health care legislation, and honouring priority groups. "Even if we had a method of accessing the vaccine in the shortage we as an organization would never think of giving it to anyone other than those with the highest risks first," Copeman told CTV.