Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s chief medical officer criticized professional hockey and basketball players who jumped the queue for swine flu shots as the nation copes with a shortage of the vaccine.

Teams including the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs vaccinated some of their players last week, even as health officials try to limit the shots to high- risk patients such as pregnant women and young children.

“We do love our hockey, but the guidelines are based on those who are at greatest risk,” Dr. David Butler-Jones, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, said yesterday. “Those at lower risk really should wait. Hockey players are at no greater risk than anyone else.”

The preferential treatment given to the athletes has sparked outrage even in a country where hockey is the most popular sport. Canada faces a shortage of flu vaccines, and in Alberta, where the Flames are based, lineups and a dwindling supply of vaccines forced the government to shut all clinics from Oct. 31 until yesterday.

“I feel cheated,” said Brian Brown, 57, a poker dealer at a casino in Calgary. “I don’t blame the players, but the health region shouldn’t have agreed to give the shots without the public knowing.”

The head of Alberta’s health services agency apologized for the “unacceptable” treatment given the Flames, and two people were fired as a result. The “most senior staff member” involved in the decision was dismissed Nov. 4, Alberta Health Services said today in an e-mailed press release.

“The decision to allow preferential access to the Flames and their families was a serious error in judgment,” Dr. Stephen Duckett, head of Alberta Health, said in a statement.

Players Ill

Sports teams such as the Flames say they want to avoid playing part of the six-month regular season with a depleted lineup. David Krejci, a forward with the Boston Bruins, yesterday became at least the fourth NHL player to be diagnosed with the virus.

“Our organization and our medical staff felt that our players should receive the vaccination given the risks associated with frequent physical contact,” the Flames said in a Nov. 3 statement on the team’s Web site. “Our players did not seek to either avoid line-ups or get special attention.”

Quebec’s Major Junior Hockey League had to cancel two games involving the Moncton Wildcats this week after two players on the team contracted the virus. Affected players and staff have been quarantined, the league said.

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews said she wants to know why players and staff of the Maple Leafs and the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors got the vaccine. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of both clubs, said in a statement that “certain players and staff” received the shot.

Priority List

“I want you to know that this is entirely, entirely unacceptable,” Matthews told the provincial legislature in Toronto. “We are relying on our professionals to respect the priority list.”

Canadians will have to be patient. Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc told a televised news conference yesterday that all residents will be able to get the vaccine by Christmas. About 700,000 of the province’s 7.8 million residents have been vaccinated, he said.

Lineups in Quebec have been so long that the government this week set up a coupon system to avoid people having to spend hours in near-freezing temperatures as they waited for their turn.

As of Nov. 3, 101 people in Canada have died from swine flu since the outbreak of the virus, Canadian health officials said yesterday. In the past week, swine-flu cases across the country have tripled, Butler-Jones said.

On Oct. 27, a 13-year-old Toronto hockey player died from the virus just a day after developing flu-like symptoms. Evan Frustaglio died after fainting in the bathroom of his home, his father Paul Frustaglio said.

To contact the reporter for this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 15:29 EST