Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:01:0
AHN Staff
Toronto, Ontario (AHN) - More violations of the pecking order for Influenza A (H1N1) are coming out following the controversy generated by the discovery that hockey players jumped the queue to get swine flu shots. After hospital board members admitted getting inoculated against H1N1, now it's the turn of private and boarding school students to admit having jumped the line.
Among the Ontario schools in which school officials acknowledged that some of their students already had the vaccine shots are St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Pickering College in Newmarket and the Hill Academy in Concord.
St. Andrew's justified their jumping the queue because as a boarding school, their students live in a close environment, where the transmission of virus usually is at a faster pace.
Ontario Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Arlene King clarified that students could be placed on the priority list if they have underlying health conditions.
The reports of queue jumping has spawned more stories of other groups being offered the H1N1 shots ahead of those on the high-risk list. One such report is that Afghan detainees had been offered the swine flu vaccine, but the Department of National Defense clarified that no one within that group had been offered the H1N1 vaccine.
Despite the assurance, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq ordered a probe into the report. Aglukkaq and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo co-hosted on Tuesday a nationwide virtual summit on H1N1 preparedness. She disclosed that 95 percent of First Nation communities now have a pandemic plan in place.
Atleo pointed out many of the aboriginal communities in Canada hurdled unique challenges in preparing for the swine flu pandemic because of their distant locations, poor infrastructure and limited resources. He added, "Our communities have hard in addressing these challenges, demonstrating innovation and resourcefulness to ensure their citizens are as well prepared as possible."
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