Toronto hospital board got H1N1 shots early

Members of the board of directors at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital were given H1N1 shots last Monday, at a time when many people in priority groups had yet to be immunized.

A letter written Nov. 2 by Joseph Mapa, CEO of Mount Sinai Hospital stated "we were also able to provide the vaccine to those who attended our meeting last Monday and others present at our clinics in the main lobby, etc." on Monday, Oct. 26, the earliest the H1N1 shots were available.

"This was based on the understanding that there would be sufficient vaccine available for everyone in the system and our philosophy of providing access to our community," said the letter, obtained by CBC-TV's Power and Politics.

In mid-September, the federal government laid out strict guidelines on who should receive the vaccine first. In Ontario, it was determined that front line health-care workers should receive the shots first, followed by people in certain priority groups who ran a higher risk of developing complications from the H1N1 virus than the general public.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/11/05/sinai-h1n1-board-shots252.html