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Adam Huras
Telegraph-Journal

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Health officials in New Brunswick say they are looking into why players from two Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams received vaccinations against H1N1 influenza while thousands of people in priority groups are still waiting to get their shots.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titans received the shots last Wednesday in Bathurst after standing in a line at the local health and safety office, according to the team's director of marketing and public relations.

"Our team doctor identified us as a priority group," Luc Foulem said. "From what I understand all teams were to be on the priority list because of the nature of what they do."

Several teams in the league, including the P.E.I. Rocket and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, have received the vaccines, according to Moncton Wildcats general manager Bill Schurman.

His team received the vaccinations on Friday from team doctors, the day the provincial clampdown on priority groups began.

Schurman said the H1N1 shots had been planned for weeks. Sunday's scheduled game between the Moncton Wildcats and the Montreal Junior was cancelled due to illness - but not H1N1.

"Every year we do everything we possibly can to keep our team as health as we possibly can," he said. "Because we are a high-profile group that is constantly meeting people and are always out at hospitals and in public, we were high priority.

"I do know that a lot of people were able to get (the H1N1 vaccine) up until now where they have drawn the line."

The Saint John Sea Dogs have yet to receive the vaccine. The team's president isn't worried that they now have to wait.

"We are taking measures such as separate water bottles, separate towels and anything like that to be very cautious," said Wayne Long. "Obviously we want to get the shot, we are working with our doctors to secure the shot, but we can't jump any line, so we will get it when we can."

New Brunswick health officials cracked down on the provincial inoculation program on Friday after it became clear the supply of vaccine was not going to be sufficient to meet the immediate, overwhelming demand.

The province also revised its list of priority groups to children from six months to 18 years of age, pregnant women, aboriginal people and health-care workers. QMJHL players range in age from 16 to 20 years old.

Dr. Eilish Cleary, chief medical officer of health, said Monday that hockey teams are not on the province's priority list.

She said she had no knowledge that players with both the Moncton Wildcats and the Acadie-Bathurst Titans have received vaccinations.

"Hockey teams are not a priority, although if they are made up of children they are in the priority group, but not because they play hockey," Cleary said.

"I have no knowledge about that, but I certainly will be following up."

Cleary said tight restrictions on the inoculation program will continue this week after the province received just one quarter of the vaccination supply it originally expected.

"We are now seeing widespread pandemic H1N1 activity in the province," Cleary said at a briefing on Monday.

"We have fairly significant levels of activity across New Brunswick."

Cleary said two more New Brunswickers have been hospitalized after contracting H1N1, bringing the province's total hospitalizations to four. None is labelled as serious.

The province has so far not included people with chronic diseases on the priority list. Health officials say a strategy to deal with that group is being developed.

An official with Regional Health Authority A said the priority list was not being enforced until late last week. The authority is administering the vaccine in both Bathurst and Moncton.

"Priority was not enforced before Saturday morning," Lydia Dupéré said. "People who went and waited in the line up got the vaccine.

"Starting Saturday morning, we decided to start to reinforce the criteria for the vaccine."

Cleary said the priority groups were communicated to health authorities. However, she said that some people have been given the vaccine even though they were not in a priority group.

The province also rewrote its priority list once more on Monday to again include all pregnant women after receiving a delivery of more than 4,000 doses of the unadjuvanted vaccine.

Pregnant women in Canada were initially told they should wait for a unadjuvanted version of the vaccine because the adjuvanted version had never been tested on pregnant women.

But last week federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the approval of the vaccine containing an adjuvant, which is a substance that stimulates the body's immune response.

Cleary said she still believes everyone will receive the vaccination by Christmas, but that priority groups will be the focus for the remainder of the week.

"We will be working very hard to ensure the priority groups get vaccinated," Cleary said. "This means some people will have to wait but we will have enough vaccine for everybody."