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B.C.'s health officer says the doctor who vaccinated the Abbotsford Heat hockey team clearly acted outside provincial H1N1 guidelines.
Dr. Perry Kendall addressed the media yesterday after news broke that the AHL team had received the vaccine, despite the fact it's only supposed to be given to at-risk populations.
"No authorization was given by me or any other health officers," Kendall said during his daily H1N1 briefing. "And we don't plan to give priority access to professional and amateur sports teams. It's outside the province's guidelines."
The Heat received their shots Tuesday even though their NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames, are in hot water for jumping the queue in Alberta last week.
In fact, Alberta Health Services announced yesterday they've fired a senior staff member over the incident.
Heat team president Tom Mauthe has flatly denied any preferential treatment.
He claims several players became ill during their road trip and the team physician determined they were at a "high risk" and should be immunized.
Kendall defined at-risk people as seniors, children, pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions.
Many clinics are turning away patients who don't fall in those categories, especially since all provinces have a shortage of the vaccines.
Kendall plans to chat with the B.C. College of Physicians over the debacle.
"I don't think that this falls under the scope of what's considered normal practice," he said. "The vaccine is scarce. We hope British Columbians will be patient."
The decision to immunize the players - and other stories of queue jumping - is causing public unrest, according to NDP critic Adrian Dix.
"We have to be clear and we have to ensure that the rules are followed," he said. "I think the public is willing to be patient. But if the perception is people are breaking the rules, it will be harder and harder for the public to stay patient."
Dix adds health care workers and people with chronic illness have been denied the vaccine as groups like VANOC's torch relay staff get first dibs.
Other local sports teams are waiting their turn.
B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono and his medical staff educated players about the virus Tuesday and told them that they have the option of getting the shot after Friday's game, if made available to the team.
As for the Canucks, they said on Tuesday that they will receive vaccination at the "appropriate time".