It’s hard to believe.

Big Wall Street bankers such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup got H1N1 flu vaccines for their at-risk employees.

How is it that?

Out here in Minnesota, we have seen the vaccines go to government agencies and community hospitals and clinics, which together control the distribution.

How is it that the big banking companies were able to get the vaccine? Can small companies get them, too? Shouldn’t employees at Goldman Sachs and Citibank get their vaccines from clinics the same way everyone else does?

New York City gave it to those companies. That’s how they got them. New York needs to be more thoughtful in how it distributes the vaccine.

Here in Albert Lea, we know some dentists who are had a hard time getting it for their employees — people who have to look straight down throats every day.

We know schoolchildren and pregnant mothers who remain without the vaccine. Everyone knows someone who has contracted H1N1 influenza, a case that likely could have been avoided with a vaccine.

No wonder so many Americans are upset with the news.

This from Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.: “Vaccines should go to people who need them most, not people who happen to work on Wall Street.”

The director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a letter Thursday to state and local health departments asking them to review their distribution plans and make sure the vaccine is getting to high-risk groups.

Kudos to Morgan Stanley. The company received a 1,000 doses and opted to turn over the supply to local hospitals when it learned it received the shipment before several hospitals had.