the stick, the stone and the puddle

given the media attention given to the latest flu, there’s no surprise that controversy appears due to it. now, while i won’t be talking about the h1n1 flu and how it can or cannot affect one, or the symptoms or how one can prevent it. a vaccine has been rolled out by pharmaceutical companies (in short supply…hint hint). at this point i’m not sure how much a shot costs, but i’m certain the quarterly profits of the manufacturers will surpass the expectations. anyhow, as it turns out due to the short supply of vaccines…there is a priority list set. the government figured they should get a priority list and ensure those in the high risk category (not yet sure how that is assigned and what makes one person high risk over the other…) will get access to the vaccine (if they so desire) first. well…as it turns out there is one factor that promotes one to the ‘priority’ list of getting vaccines; and if you haven’t guessed then you’re a bit to naive. yes, it’s called money.

a story was leaked to the media yesterday that the members of the calgary nhl team (the calgary flames) and their families received the h1n1 vaccines at a private clinic. as it turns out, you got money…you have priority. tier based health-care in effect in canada…yet again. i guess one would want to affect the hockey season if a player suddenly gets sick…after all the show must go on. so what if there’s no fans to watch because they’re battling the flu, at least the hockey teams will continue on playing. the organization denies any wrongdoing in this situation. the health authorities in alberta were somewhat quick to respond, and fired a person due to this situation; doubtful that the particular employee is actually the one responsible for this…they just had to find a scapegoat. calgary , unfortunately, is not the only team that is guilty of this. as it turns out, toronto based teams have acted in the same fashion.

so, i wonder what these teams will say to the family of the next h1n1 victim that didn’t get the vaccine because the next shipment didn’t arrive yet…yet professional players were allowed to receive the vaccines. i wonder how they will stand and pretend they are role models when they did not wait their turn like every other regular citizen. some are more equal than others. i am guessing here, but i doubt only these three teams (calgary flames, toronto maple leafs and toronto raptors) are guilty of cutting in line to get the vaccines. shame on the healthcare system for allowing this, shame on the organizations for pushing for this to happen…and shame on the players for going ahead with this. however, robyn regehr (a member of the calgary hockey team) stated he wasn’t aware there’s a short supply of vaccines. quite doubtful, given that has been the news for the past week.

edit (nov 5): as it turns out, british columbia officials are guilty of this too…a abbostford hockey team received the shot before high priority people in the city. i guess they are ‘higher’ priority given they spend time on the ice (and it’s cold on there)…and it’s important they keep on playing regardless of the surroundings.