Minister, I'm urging you to take this on, and wholeheartedly. A hundred million dollars over three years for treatment, recovery, safe supply, education and prevention isn't even close to adequate when we've lost over 27,000 lives in this country under your government's watch. This is a health and human rights issue, Minister. I'm asking you to take this on and to help lead with it.
Obviously, today Moderna has applied to Health Canada for approval for a COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to six years old. Currently children under five years have no access to vaccines. Since the onset of omicron, more young children have been hospitalized than in the previous waves of the pandemic, and the long-term impacts of COVID infections are clear.
Now, with the sixth wave and the removal of most public health measures, many parents and caregivers are feeling isolated and are understandably eager to get their children vaccinated. Can you confirm that the government has secured the doses needed to vaccinate children under five years old and outline how quickly these vaccines will be distributed to the provinces upon approval?