EDMONTON, Alberta(AP) -- A senior staff member for Alberta Health
Services has been fired for giving the Calgary Flames swine flu
shots while thousands of people waited in line for the vaccine
last week.

The board, which reports directly to the Alberta government,
won't name who was dismissed Wednesday and said more people
might be punished for their roles.

"I am deeply offended that this circumstance has occurred," Ken
Hughes, chairman of Alberta Health Services, said in a news
release. "The decision to allow preferential access to the
Flames and their families was a serious error in judgment."

Hughes said the "most senior staff member involved" was
dismissed.

Flames president Ken King said Tuesday the players and their
families received their shots on Friday at a private location.
He said they believed they had gone through proper channels at
Alberta Health Services, the agency that administers health
services for the province.

King said they felt the shots were a priority for the players
because of their extensive cross-border travel and the
close-contact physical nature of their sport. He also said they
didn't want to cause a commotion by having the players stand in
line at a public clinic.

However, he didn't say why that rationale would apply to Flames
management and players' families.

The revelation angered many people who have criticized Alberta's
swine flu vaccine rollout, which was plagued by long lineups
before it was shut down Saturday.

Other sports teams in Canada, including the Edmonton Oilers, the
NBA's Toronto Raptors and the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos, have said
they did not seek or get preferential H1N1 vaccines for their
players.