Government Operations Committee on March 24th, 2021

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Yes, sure.

[The Chair, Conservative, Robert Gordon Kitchen]

Thank you.

We will go to Mr. McCauley for five minutes.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Thanks, Chair, and welcome back again, Minister. It's the second time today.

I want to get back to the issue we were just chatting about, the four-month delay between the first and second shots. I know that's not within your control.

In January, you had commented that you had some concerns that dose intervals may impact further deliveries. I realize you're not the one in charge of making a decision about the four-month wait, but do you still have those concerns that such a long wait will impact Moderna and Pfizer deliveries?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

The reason I stated that in January was because it had come up in our conversations with the suppliers. It has not come up in our conversations over the last number of weeks, including the decisions that the NACI made, and the provinces have been making, about the four-month interval.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

It's not a purchasing concern as much anymore, is that correct?.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

At this point, it is not.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

The AstraZeneca coming in from the United States, when will that start showing up in Canada? Was it one and a half million?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

That's right. We believe the doses are ready to be picked up. We are waiting for some approvals from Health Canada to be granted. We are standing ready to pick them up as soon as we get that approval.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Did we not renew our Prime membership to get them next day? I'm kidding.

What's the expiration date? Hopefully, they'll start showing up, say next week or two weeks from now.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

The earliest expiration date for those doses is the end of May. Ideally, we will have two months with those doses, but they range in expiration date.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

How many of them are in May? Is it a small amount, or do we have to get a million? I realize you're not going to have the exact number, but is it proportional?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I don't have the exact number. We haven't taken control of these doses. We haven't yet seen these doses. We are picking them up all in one batch. We will have more information about the precise characteristics of the doses when we get them.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

I want to go back to the European issue. I may have misheard you in our back and forth, but I heard differently from what you were explaining to my colleague.

Are you 100% sure we are not going to see a single drop in any of our expected imports from Europe over the next while?

I'm looking at the EU regulation, and it continues on until June 30, according to article 6.

When I asked you, it sounded like, yes, we're guaranteed, we're not going to lose any. Did I hear that correctly?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I would not have used that terminology. The terminology I used is that we are continuing to receive our shipments from Europe. We are watching global supply chains very carefully in light of vaccine nationalism.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

How much at risk are we, then, under this EU regulation?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Currently, we are going to be continue to get our shipments from Europe. We are seeking additional assurances that that is the case.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

What's that belief based on? When you say additional assurances, is it in writing? Do we have in writing that it's confirmed? Is it a work in progress? Where are we with that?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

My role is to negotiate with our suppliers. Our suppliers are telling us that the shipments to Canada will continue to flow. Doses continue to flow into the country. We are going to continue to work with our suppliers, so that remains the case.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Doses are continuing to flow, but as we had planned, say a week ago?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

More than what we've planned.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

When did we hear about this EU regulation coming in? Most of us heard about it in the New York Times. When did our government hear about it?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I heard about it last night.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

How was Global Affairs not aware of this? How did it not make you aware of this?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

That's a question for Global Affairs.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Okay.