Maple Leafs Defend H1N1 Vaccine For Hockey Players

November 6, 2009 5:42 a.m. EST

Calgary, Alberta (AHN) - With the death toll over the second wave of the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in Canada going up, hockey players allegedly getting preferential treatment for swine flu shots has created a controversy.

The issue cost an unidentified mid-level manager of Alberta Health Services his job for his role in helping members of the Calgary Flames jump the queue on Friday to be inoculated with the H1N1 vaccine, most likely at the Father David Bauer Arena off-site clinic.

After the firing of the official was published, public scrutiny is now on the manner other Canadian hockey teams got inoculated.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defended the inclusion of hockey players on the high-risk group that gets priority for the H1N1 shots, although the team insisted it did not jump the lines to be vaccinated. The Maple Leafs said in a statement professional athletes belong to high risk groups because of their excessive contact with other players, frequent travels and public exposure.

Another argument that athletes cited was that the Ontario youth - Evan Frustaglio - whose death triggered the official declaration that a second wave of the H1N1 had hit Canada was a hockey player and played in a tournament on the weekend before he suddenly died from swine flu.

The queue-jumping issue has angered many Canadians because it takes an average of six hours of lining up to get protection from the H1N1 virus. Ontario's health minister said she will investigate how the hockey players in the province got their swine flu shots.