Health committee  That's essentially what I'm saying.

Health committee  I don't want to get into province specifics. This is obviously a national panel. I hear your thoughts around the greater good, but we think that not delaying the second dose for health care workers brings greater good and allows for health care workers to take care of people with COVID and non-COVID-related illnesses.

Health committee  You're right, Mr. Thériault, it's a problem. We must continue to provide cardiac care. The Canadian Cardiology Association and the Ottawa Heart Institute have been repeating this message since the pandemic began, and it's important to keep repeating it.

Health committee  We must continue to address both threats simultaneously, the threat of COVID-19 and the threat of other diseases, including cardiovascular disease, which unfortunately cannot be treated in a timely manner because of COVID-19.

Health committee  That's not necessarily the case. As you know, with the new variants, the mutations, the transmissibility of infections is significantly enhanced and not at all favourable. So there is much more potential for transmission from person to person.

Health committee  There isn't a huge difference because an outbreak usually occurs on most floors between two patients where transmission has occurred in a hospital setting. The definition is still quite strict.

Health committee  The data changes every week. I can tell you that, in my speciality, it isn't 25%. All health care workers want to get their vaccine, and the second dose, as soon as possible. Later, it may be the third dose. There may be regional variations, but that's not what we're seeing here.

Health committee  Actually, I think it's really not that percentage. We have the pandemic in our face every day. We have patients on artificial hearts and lungs because of COVID-19. Right now, there are a lot of patients who are between life and death, and the situation tips more often in the wrong direction.

Health committee  I couldn't agree more. In fact, that's the big problem with COVID-19, that excess deaths aren't just from COVID-19, but are caused, in large part, by other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. This is a problem that we have to deal with, and it's called the “double threat”.

Health committee  Mr. Thériault, thank you for your question. I don't necessarily have that information on hand.

Health committee  I would not at this point, because the data are currently not updated, and it's hard to really have a good sense. I think we have age-specific data. Most of the reinfections after one dose, especially those causing significant morbidity, occur in older people, but it can still happen among health care workers.

Health committee  Our recommendation goes along the lines of the message I was providing earlier. We understand that the Canadian population needs to be vaccinated as soon as possible. That may imply a “one vaccine as soon as possible” strategy for the most possible people, and Canada is not the only country to have adopted this path.

Health committee  I think there should be an exception made for health care workers, for the reasons we highlighted. Health care workers should receive their second dose within the usual therapeutic window that has been mandated by Moderna, Pfizer, you name them.

Health committee  I'm not aware of another country, because I focus on Canadian data. That being said, there could very well be some.

Health committee  That's an excellent question. So far the data appear to be encouraging. There doesn't seem to be an indication that if the second dose is delayed you will be more likely to need a third dose. It may very well be that we'll all need a third dose in the future. That being said, really the point here that is most urgent is that health care workers need to be fully protected as soon as possible, because the incidence rates are high; they are providing frontline care to patients with COVID-19, and they do not have the option to refrain from direct contact with those patients.