Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I think there is an urgency to this. Mr. Van Bynen may be right, but those professionals need to know what information they're basing the decision on, and that's what this motion is about. There's a conflict in facts here between NACI and Health Canada in regard to just AstraZeneca. We have a number of vaccines that have been licensed in Canada, and that's great, but we also have a situation where there has been some conflicting information as well. I think we need to deal with the situation that's before us.
If this vaccine is going out to be used by sources in Canada—and I believe there are areas where it could be, but perhaps just not in those aged over 65—if we wait until the week after next, then that's really putting 10 to 12 days of vaccines in people's arms when we don't know what the efficacy of doing that would be. That's the nuts and bolts of having this meeting: to try to clarify this for the public. I think one of the things called for here is to make sure we reduce vaccine hesitancy as much as we can. We want everybody to know that they can be secure when they're getting a vaccine in their arms.
That's why I think it's very important that this meeting be at least next week sometime. Early in the morning, late at night or after another meeting, I'm fine with whenever it is. I do think that for the public's interest, the sooner it is, the better.