By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

Canada's top female biathlete wanted vaccination for the swine flu before she boarded an airplane this weekend, but Zina Kocher couldn't get it.

"I leave for Europe on Saturday, so it's doubtful I will get it," the 26-year-old from Red Deer, Alta., said this week. "I may be in Europe until right before the (Olympic) Games."

That's Dr. Bob McCormack's nightmare. The chief medical officer of Canada's Olympic team is watching those counted on to win medals at the 2010 Olympics leave for other parts of the world unprotected from the swine flu virus.

"We still have not been able to achieve our goal of getting the team protected the ideal way," McCormack said in a recent interview from Vancouver.

McCormack's ideal way would have been getting the athletes in line for a needle when the vaccine was first rolled out to the public Oct. 26.

He was in discussions then with provincial and federal health officials about vaccinating Canada's Olympians before they departed for international competitions.

Those preliminary talks screeched to a halt when vaccine shortages, long lineups and controversy over hockey teams getting the vaccine before others made the issue too politically-charged to pursue.

Two Alberta health officials were fired for setting up a private vaccination clinic for the Calgary Flames when others stood in line for hours.

"We did have to back off," McCormack said. "We saw the lay of the land and decided not to push it anymore."

He said talks never reached a point where he asked outright for the vaccination of athletes, nor did he get an outright refusal from health officials.

McCormack doesn't blame the Flames for Olympians' inability to get vaccinated. Yet the furor over professional hockey players getting what many felt was special treatment was a factor in abandoning his campaign for quick access to vaccine for about 200 athletes.

"There was a tremendous amount of attention in the media about the limited supply and who should be getting it," he said. "As an organization, you have to say 'How far are we going to push this and are the negative repercussions going to be worse than waiting another week or two?"'

After the initial confusion and long lineups for the vaccine, pregnant women, children, seniors and those with chronic health problems were given priority and others were told to wait.

Open vaccination has begun in some parts of the country, but that's too late for many Canadian athletes. The skeleton and bobsled teams, speedskaters, cross-county skiers and snowboarders have already left the country.

"We've had some athletes come down with swine flu," McCormack said. "That's a concern to all of us and to me as the chief medical officer because the problem is, not only have they invested 10 or 15 years of their life to get ready for this Olympic competition and this one opportunity, but we as a country have invested a lot to get them to their optimal performance.

"Something like getting sick with the swine flu can send that all down the drain if you miss an extended period of critical training."

Canadian taxpayers paid for $66 million of Own The Podium's five-year, $117-million plan to help their team win more medals than any other country in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

McCormack believes a few athletes have been vaccinated already, but doesn't know how many. He doesn't have an exact number of athletes who have become ill with swine flu either, although figure skater Patrick Chan struggled through a bout of it.

Cross-country skier Chandra Crawford of Canmore, Alta., tweeted about receiving the H1N1 shot in Sweden, but would not provide further details when asked by The Canadian Press.

McCormack says getting vaccinated in another country is something athletes may have to pursue if they want the shot.

Athletes can get inoculated at the athletes villages in both Vancouver and Whistler upon arrival at the Games in February, but McCormack says it takes two weeks after a shot for the vaccine to provide full protection.

Kocher wondered why support staff for the torch relay currently making its away across Canada were vaccinated and athletes were not.

"If they're going to that, then all the Canadian Olympic athletes, they should have had the vaccination as well because that seems a little more important," she said.

Swine flu can derail Canada's pursuit of medals if they contract it before, or during, the Olympics starting Feb. 12. For that reason, many athletes feel they need the vaccine.

"Two weeks in an athlete's life in the winter is huge," said downhill skier Emily Brydon of Fernie, B.C. " I just can't afford two weeks between now and March. If those two weeks are at the Olympics, that's a dream gone."

The curling trials open Dec. 6 in Edmonton with 16 curling teams and thousands of spectators congregating at Rexall Place. Skip Randy Ferbey understands McCormack's desire for athletes' to get vaccinated, but there's little Ferbey can do.

"They require you get it, but at the same time you can't get it unless you're the Calgary Flames," Ferbey said. "We couldn't get them because of the kerfuffle over who should get them and who shouldn't."

The Canadian women's hockey team is based in Calgary. The team was in Finland when the inoculations began. Players and staff were not able to get the shot when they returned because they were not among the priority groups.

Defender Becky Kellar of Hagersville, Ont., intends to get in line when the open call for vaccination comes

"I'd think it would be good if we could get it," she said. "It would be one less worry going in to the village."

Head coach Melody Davidson doesn't blame the Flames for procuring the vaccine, even though her players will get vaccinated weeks after the NHL players.

"I believe when the Flames did get it, it was available to the public," Davidson said. "Had we been in town, we would have secured the vaccine for our group like the seasonal flu shot. The same doctor that worked with them, was planning to set us up when we got back."