I have been seriously negligent and slack in updating lately.

Ok, who am I kidding. It's been more than a little while since I last updated with anything. It's certainly not for a lack of things going on, or topics that generate a strong response that I'd normally blog about.

Like this.

The whole H1N1 vaccine fiasco in Calgary with Alberta Health Services? Ye gods and little fishes that was a cluster and a half, and the way the media positioned the story was absolutely shameful. The Calgary Flames went through what they considered an accepted route to arrange a private clinic for their players and staff. A perfectly reasonable and normal thing to do, something which is done every year by private companies who wish to innoculate their at risk staff. And make no mistake, the Flames are at risk and a risk to others if they are unvaccinated. They spend a vast amount of time in close quarters with the team, and they travel extensively. Even if they weren't specifically sick, the chance of them spreading it in airports and planes is huge.

From their stance, it was all above board and approved. Public clinics were open and the government had indicated very clearly they had enough vaccine for everyone in Alberta and that there was no prioritizing of the flu shot.

Shortly after they had their own clinic, the same day actually, the story breaks that there isn't enough vaccine to go around and that the clinics are being closed.

That the media sold this as a story about privileged players queue jumping was just enraging. This was an absolute failure on the part of Alberta Health Services and the Minister responsible. It's been reported that AHS has fired two staffers as a result of the fiasco, and I'd go so far as to describe that as some of the worst scapegoating I've seen in Alberta recently.

I sincerely hope my fellow Calgarians and Albertans won't buy it, and they'll demand Ron Liepert's head on a pole for this abysmal failure. Liepert was responsible for this absolute public policy failure, and deserves to be out on his privileged ministerial ass for it. Dealing with a pandemic is a well researched and documented subject, and Leipert chose to ignore *all* of that. Worse than ignore, he threw the plan out and implemented a last minute devil may care type measure.