While Albertans were waiting in line for hours to get their H1N1 vaccination, the Calgary Flames received theirs at a clinic set up specifically for the team.
On Tuesday, the president of the hockey team revealed the players and some of their families received their shots at a private location.
Ken King says the organization contacted Alberta Health Services and requested the clinic.
King says given the risks associated with their sport and the amount of travel the players do it was necessary to get the players vaccinated against H1N1 as efficiently as possible. "We thought we were doing the right thing given what we knew at the time."
The team's doctors worked with Alberta Health Services to assess the risk to players and the "potential commotion and intrusion that sending the team to one of the locations would cause," says King in a statement released on Tuesday. "Our players did not seek to either avoid lineups or get special attention."
The players received the H1N1 shot on Friday.
The players say they were just doing what they were told. "I don't think any of the players knew that there was going to be a shortage and at that point in time we had the option to do it I think there wasn't that scare," says Robyn Regehr.
The premier says Alberta Health Services is looking into what happened. "I can't speculate on what happened but we will have a full report very shortly," says Ed Stelmach. "Someone has broken the rules because it's deplorable."
"We've asked Alberta Health Services to get the answer and when we get the answer, I am not going to jump to any conclusions, but when we get the answer we will deal with it," says Health Minsiter Ron Liepert.
Meanwhile, Alberta Health Services is apologizing for the Flames players being vaccinated ahead of the general public.
Roman Cooney, a spokesperson for AHS, admits the vaccine clinic went against protocol and never should have happened. Cooney says AHS is now trying to get to the bottom of the incident.
