Evidence of meeting #16 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vaccines.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
AstraZeneca has significantly different delivery methods or requirements from Pfizer and Moderna.
What kind of lead time would you need on that to be able to switch your delivery program?
11:30 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
From what I'm told, the AstraZeneca is a much simpler vaccine to administer so we could get that one out a lot faster to some of our pharmacists and into our drive-through clinics when we're able to open them. It would be easier.
The more information we know, the better for us so we can plan. We have a lot of logistics to do in Saskatchewan to make sure that—
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you.
Has the government given you any formal assurances that there would not be an export ban or export restrictions from vaccines coming out of the European Union?
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
How much do you think that will potentially affect supply if it comes to pass?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
I think it would have a huge impact on supply, and we would be down to next to nothing.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Have any of the details of the contracts with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson been made public to you specifically in terms of projected delivery schedules?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
No. We haven't received anything.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
Absolutely. It would be very helpful for us to be able to see what's coming and what the quantities are.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Have there been any reasons given why those haven't been given to you?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
They've just haven't been provided. We've informally requested that but nothing has been provided other than to say it's confidential.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Has the minister told you that the number of Pfizer doses that they're contractually obliged to provide is now going to be dependent on that sixth dose? Have they given you an indication that that's where the federal government is likely to go?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
That's the indication, that they're going to relabel them from five doses to six.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
We're not talking about the number of vials anymore. We're talking about the number of doses, with six doses in the vial. That's the indication that you've been given. Is that correct?
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Sorry, Minister Merriman, we're having trouble with translation again. Perhaps you need to cut your video again. Your audio was very choppy.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Sorry, that put me off my pace.
With respect to the sixth dose, my understanding is that you need a special syringe to extract that sixth dose. Has the federal government supplied you with that, on the assumption that there's going to be a “sixth dose” requirement?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
We've been told that they're coming, but we haven't actually had any land in Saskatchewan yet.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Do you have any sense of when those would be arriving, in the quantity that you need to distribute the vaccine?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
We're hoping it will be this week, but we'll wait until they actually arrive.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
How much lead time are you getting from the federal government on understanding exactly how many doses you're getting per week?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
We get a good lead time on what the projected doses are, but the changes come very quickly and they're always reduced.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
This is my last question. Last week, in the House of Commons, the health minister made a throwaway comment about the question of supply. She said, using the example of Ontario, that there were doses left in the freezer.
When you have supply disruptions with the two-dose situation, I'm assuming that that forces you into difficult situations for figuring out how to allocate future doses to new people versus meeting that two-dose requirement window. Can you give us a sense of how much the supply disruption has impacted the second dose for high-risk populations?
11:35 a.m.
Minister of Health, Government of Saskatchewan
It's dramatically impacted high-risk populations. We've had to change almost daily. We're always reacting on very short notice to be able to find out when we can get this. If we don't get everything that we're promised right now, it will be challenging to get the second dose to the people who have had their first dose in the recommended time frame.