Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc said Saturday it was wrong for 200 hospital financial donors to get the H1N1 vaccine ahead of the general public, and promised it would not happen again.
In the early weeks of the current swine flu outbreak, donors at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital were inoculated against the virus -- despite not being on the priority list.
"I think that was mistake," Bolduc said at a press conference. "We recognize that. And I hope there won't be anyone else in the future."
Hospital officials have defended the vaccinations, saying the donors spent a lot of time in the hospital, where they would inevitably come into contact with patients.
Seven people have died from swine flu in Quebec since September. More than 800,000 people in the province have been immunized.
Toronto's University Health Network, made up of three downtown hospitals, has also come under fire for queue-jumping. It offered to vaccinate board members and executives at the same time as health workers.
"They do not fall into the category of a health care worker," Ontario's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Arlene King, said in response to the controversy.
Another Toronto hospital, Mount Sinai, has also vaccinated its board members.
Meanwhile clinics in neighbouring Mississauga closed this weekend due to a shortage of the vaccine.
