Ontario to investigate athletes’ swine flu shots

Nov 5, 7:54 pm EST

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TORONTO (AP)—Ontario health minister Deb Matthews vowed Thursday to investigate whether Toronto’s NBA and NHL players jumped the line for the swine flu shot while other groups are being forced to wait as the province’s supply dwindles.

Matthews said she shares the outrage sparked by reports that Maple Leafs and Raptors players got the shot even though the province doesn’t have enough yet to vaccinate school-age children.

“I don’t care who you are, how rich you are, how famous you are,” she said. “If you’re not in the priority group, get out of the line and let the people who are in the priority groups get their vaccination.”

Matthews expects Ontario to run out of the regular H1N1 vaccine at the end of the week due to Ottawa’s dramatic supply slowdown.

The province has enough vaccine to immunize 2.2 million people, which is intended only for the estimated 3.4 million Ontarians who fall under the province’s high-priority groups, she said.

They include pregnant women, children between 6 months and 5 years of age, people who care for infants and other people who can’t get the vaccine, people under the age of 65 with chronic conditions and those living in remote communities. The government wants to add school-age children as a priority group, but Matthews said it doesn’t have enough vaccine.

She doesn’t yet know how the Maple Leafs and Raptors players got the shot.

A health employee in Alberta was fired after letting the Calgary Flames jump the swine flu shot line.

Updated Nov 5, 7:54 pm EST
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20 Comments

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  1. Czheck
    20. Posted by Czheck Fri Nov 6 5:46pm EST

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    fack you s-lut $ runs this world its not nice its not fair its called life now close ya legs i can smell ya from iowa
  2. Plinko
    19. Posted by Plinko Fri Nov 6 4:47pm EST

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    The point some of you are missing is that there is a greater demand for these shots than expected, and a serious shortage of supply to meet that demand. Whether the virus' is really deserving of such attention and precautions is irrelevant - I will not be getting the shot for reasons similar to those listed below - but the fact is there is a strong demand for the vaccine and the small supply available is reserved for certain risk groups. Athletes are not part of that group and should not get special attention, especially in a country with Universal health care where money does not translate to better care.
  3. who the hell?
    18. Posted by who the hell? Fri Nov 6 4:35pm EST

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    Are Canadians this naive? If you're a nobody, a regular Joe Blue Collar, you don't even have a say, let alone a place in line. You think it's unfair for a billionaire to use his weight to get his assets the shot first? I don't see any of the average folks writing checks or donating money for hospitals/politicians...so you see, it's fair, if you have the money and weight to get into the real line.

    I really don't see what the big hub bub is though, considering less than 100 people have died in the entire world of H1N1. The chances of dying are so low, you could literally die waiting in line before the flu even gets you. You have a better chance of getting hit by a car or winning the lottery, than dying from H1N1. The media needs to quit making it sound like the annual flu is equivalent to the AIDS epidemic.

    Maybe the manufacturers of the flu vaccines are at the heart of this issue. They hype up the flu, get people excited, and then clean house with sales of their vaccines. They could literally scare people into getting Cooty shots if they weren't afraid of getting busted by the FDA.
  4. paa
    17. Posted by paa Fri Nov 6 2:37pm EST

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    Nah! Gov't just wants some slice of the media attention. They can just do it internally.
  5. <i>dma211</i>
    16. Posted by dma211 Fri Nov 6 1:50pm EST

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    The Leafs do have a chronic disease...it's called losing.
  6. ......
    15. Posted by ...... Fri Nov 6 11:52am EST

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    when i get the swine flue, at least i know i can watch the raptors from my death bed!
  7. Derek
    14. Posted by Derek Fri Nov 6 11:52am EST

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    This is not on the players, it's on the organisation - MLSE. If your employer came to you offering you the vaccination, what would you do?
  8. paleballer
    13. Posted by paleballer Fri Nov 6 11:13am EST

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    honestly, i think they should fall into the priority group as they would be going back from one country to another, which is what I thought STARTED THE SPREAD OF SWINE FLU!~....."you dont care how rich they are" funny that they prolly paid for their cuts in line and for the person to administer the show...


    money is a powerful thing, id sell my spot in line for a flu shot for 10 bucks if chris bosh offered it
    Hedo, I would not let you cut me....no matter how much you tried to give me
  9. JY
    12. Posted by JY Fri Nov 6 6:53am EST

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    Raptors deserve that sh!t same with the Jays i guess. But the Leafs? Seriously? The Leafs are a joke now.
  10. Michael
    11. Posted by Michael Fri Nov 6 2:50am EST

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    Isn't it possible they got the shots in America?
    It's freaking easy to get them here
  11. <i>nubreed000</i>
    10. Posted by nubreed000 Fri Nov 6 2:29am EST

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    Ok I'm addressing a few posts in this one:

    KMatrix: I think athletes have much stronger immune systems. First off they work out; eat better. Have access to a higher standard of health care (doctors, physicians, etc etc).

    Deeppickins: While I kinda see your point, "high priority" people included nurses and doctors, and people with chronic illnesses. Basically, the front line between a "pandemic", and the type of people who have weakened immune systems.

    And health care in Canada isn't free, lol. We still gotta pay for that s***, even though some of us aren't using it and would love to see that money back
  12. mickey
    9. Posted by mickey Fri Nov 6 1:21am EST

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    here's hoping Priest H gets it soon
  13. murrmurr..
    8. Posted by murrmurr.. Fri Nov 6 1:02am EST

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    The question is who approved the teams getting the shots? The person or persons knew that the teams did not qualify for the shots.
  14. dave b
    7. Posted by dave b Fri Nov 6 12:18am EST

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    Despite the fact that they are athletes, they travel all over the country(s). If one of them gets sick then it could affect people in other areas. Let's not forget that unlike the U.S., health care in Canada is free so they wouldn't have to buy their way to the front of the line. Although it does suck that 40 people who are on the watch list won't be able to get it now.
  15. MaTt
    6. Posted by MaTt Fri Nov 6 12:00am EST

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    man the leafs don't deserve those shots, thats for sure. 1 win in 15 games? i think toronto should purposely get the team sick.
  16. <i>deeppickins</i>
    5. Posted by deeppickins Thu Nov 5 11:14pm EST

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    I completely agree with Priest H

    honestly who cares
    i think this panic for the shot is ridiculous
    we don't even know what kind of side effects to expect, not to mention that the so called "high risk" are being used as the first wave of test dummies

    sticking to the topic at hand - lets say the shot and everything is legitimate
    who gets to decide that someone deserves the shot more than anyone else?
    if this flu is as bad as the media is making it out to be, then whether you are "high risk" or "low risk" shouldn't matter and its unfair for all the so called "low risk" people to wait around
  17. kmatrixg
    4. Posted by kmatrixg Thu Nov 5 11:03pm EST

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    Come on. Let's put this into perspective for just one minute. First off, lets look at the fact that organizations purchase vaccinations when they were first released. Because there are less people in each organization than the hundreds of thousands of school children, the two orders, which they are, are prepared differently. Secondly, even if they were prepared the same, professional athletes are travelling 3 to four times a week at times, and for the toronto clubs for instance, across international borders. they probably see about 3 different cities a week, tired, and with their immune systems pathetic as it is. This is all about politics and grabbing the vote of the public, nothing to do with logic.
  18. Rene K
    3. Posted by Rene K Thu Nov 5 10:40pm EST

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    Oh really Andrew, go do your research, and see what happened with LeBron in Toronto on opening night. I'm not about to argue that either Toronto franchises have been anything that resembles successful over the last few years, or decades for the Leafs. However, what you stated is something that did not occur last week in Toronto.
  19. Andrew
    2. Posted by Andrew Thu Nov 5 10:24pm EST

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    they just wanted to make sure they had no reason to blame the flu for how bad they suck. imagine the horror if kobe or lebron got the flu during a toronto blow out.

    to Priest H (first comment) you really need to read the article about you and larry johnson breaking your record kansas city still loves you.
  20. Priest H
    1. Posted by Priest H Thu Nov 5 9:16pm EST

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    It is unreal how blown out of proportion this issue is. Enough vaccine to immunize 2.2 million people and they are worried about 40 high-profile athletes! This is just a different strand of the flu - every year, people fall victim to it. The media has just done an extraordinary job of creating panic and chaos. The pharmaceutical companies that have created the vaccine should be investigated. The fact that these pro sports teams were able to 'buy' their own supply clearly illustrates their corruptive nature. It will be interesting to see how much this flu season will cost the government - vaccines, lost work days, overtime/overstaffed hospitals ... and now investigations! Someone needs to pay and it shouldn't be the taxpayers! Someone is clearly getting rich off this.
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