Contentious vaccinations no help as Wildcats battle H1N1
Published Thursday November 5th, 2009
MONCTON - As the Moncton Wildcats hockey team battles the H1N1 virus, team officials continued Wednesday to defend their decision to have the players vaccinated at a public clinic.
Two Wildcats players have tested positive for the H1N1 virus and an additional 15 players and staff members are suffering from the same flu-like symptoms, according to the general manager of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team.
The virus has slashed Moncton's roster to just seven healthy players and one injured skater despite the fact the team received the H1N1 vaccine last week. It can take up to two weeks for the pandemic flu vaccine to fully protect people.
The Wildcats next two games have now been cancelled.
Wildcats general manager Bill Schurman defended the Hub City team's decision to get vaccinated during a press conference on Wednesday.
But on Wednesday, Schurman elaborated on the team's decision to seek the vaccination last Friday. He said his players visited a clinic in Moncton open to the public before the vaccine was in high demand and short supply.
He would not say exactly where the clinic was held and he would not indentify the doctor who inoculated the players.
"We really apologize if someone feels we did something in error but we felt that we followed the guidelines that were set down," Schurman said. "At the time we went, the majority of the lines and the majority of the clinics were vaccinating anyone who went with someone in the risk group."
Schurman originally defended the vaccination decision earlier in the week, saying the team took a pro-active approach and ordered the vaccines early.
The province's chief medical officer of health, meanwhile, has contacted the doctor who administered H1N1 vaccine to the Wildcats' players after questions were asked as to why the team received the shot while thousands of people in priority groups in New Brunswick are still waiting.
Dr. Eilish Cleary said Wednesday she has also contacted all other physicians administering the vaccination program in New Brunswick to reiterate the province's policy on who gets priority to receive the vaccine.
"We trust that we will have co-operation on that in the future," Cleary said in Fredericton. "We have been working with all our providers to make sure that they understand the need that priority groups only should be vaccinated at this point."
Department of Health Danielle Phillips said that there was no punishment for the physician involved in the Wildcats situation, pointing out that the original priority list was not enforced across the province until late last week.
But in Alberta, public health officials responded swiftly after the National Hockey League team, the Calgary Flames, managed to secure pandemic flu shots ahead of the general public.
Alberta Health Services fired one of its senior staff members over the vaccine controversy.
Members of the Flames and their families were vaccinated at a special clinic organized last week. The next day, Alberta suspended clinics across the province due to dwindling supplies of the vaccine.
In New Brunswick, the Department of Health's initial priority group included schoolchildren. Some Wildcat players qualify because they are still high school students.
QMJHL players range in age from 16 to 20 years old.
Realizing the supply of vaccine was not going to meet the immediate, overwhelming demand, New Brunswick health officials cracked down on the inoculation program.
The restrictions came on the day the Wildcats received their influenza vaccine.
The province's current priority groups are children from six months to 18 years of age, pregnant women, aboriginal people and health-care workers.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titans also received shots last Wednesday in Bathurst after standing in a line at the local health and safety office, according to a team spokesman.
Last Sunday's scheduled game between the Wildcats and the Montreal Juniors was cancelled because too many Wildcats were ill or injured.
Home games scheduled for Thursday against Val-d'Or and Friday against Rouyn-Noranda have been postponed.
Team doctors expect the affected players to recover in a week, adding they suffer from mild cases of H1N1.
Provinces have been forced to restrict H1N1 immunization clinics to the priority groups, but the definition of priority varies across the country.
Children under five, pregnant women, natives and health care workers can currently be vaccinated at public clinics in Nova Scotia.
In Prince Edward Island, the list adds people who have children under six months of age, people under 65 with chronic conditions and household contacts and care providers of people with compromised immune systems.
There is also a clinic for those with severe egg allergies.
Children between six months and five years old, people ages five to 24 with chronic conditions, pregnant women in the second half of their pregnancy, and parents with children under six months old are priority in Newfoundland.
All the provinces have been given the same amount of vaccine on a per capita basis but it's up to them to decide how to allocate the low supply.
"From the beginning in New Brunswick we were determined we would vaccinate all children," Cleary said, speaking on why those 18 and under have remained on the list. "We are continuing it mostly because that is the group we are seeing the most activity in now, we are seeing the most hospitalizations in right now."
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It's a shame that the people who jumped the queues weren't given a reprimand of any sort. Or the people who let or encouraged them to do so.
In Moncton, hospita; employees ran around telling friends & relatives to just say they were health care workers & they could get their immunization. Whoever was running the clinics obviously didn't do their job of screening those who were actually on the priority list. As a result,many who are at the lowest prority have stepped in front of those who are in the highest. Hope that if anyone in the high risk group dies, those who acted in this sleazy, selfish way are somehow exposed for the greedy pigs that they are. Too bad they wouldn't come down with a really bad reaction to the vaccine.