Evidence of meeting #24 for Health in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was naci.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
From the point of view of vaccine safety, that is of course the highest priority for the Public Health Agency of Canada and our work with our colleagues at Health Canada.
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
From that perspective, the safety system in Canada is very strong. We have a system that works with manufacturers, provinces and territories—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Pardon me, Ms. Elmslie. Could you make sure your microphone is in the right place?
Yes, absolutely, Mr. Thériault. If you have a problem, raise a point of order immediately so we can deal with it.
Say a few words, Ms. Elmslie, and we'll see if the translation is happening.
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Is the translation happening now?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you.
Mr. Thériault, I will resume your time at this point.
Go ahead, Ms. Elmslie.
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you.
If you don't mind, I'll just conclude quickly by saying that the safety system in Canada is very strong. It is watching very carefully for any safety signals and investigating any side effects that occur after administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Berthiaume—
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
That doesn't answer my question. I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't make myself clear.
The media are reporting that 300,000 doses will expire on April 2. Health Canada is not following the National Advisory Committee on Immunization's recommendations on the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine.
Bloc
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Aren't you concerned about message buy-in or confidence in vaccination?
Was that the extra time allotted to me, Mr. Chair?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Mr. Thériault, I did give you extra time, but we'll get an answer to the question and then move on to Mr. Davies.
Please answer the question. Thank you.
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you for the question.
If I understand correctly, you are talking about the doses of vaccine that are coming into Canada and their use within the time frame. As Dr. Berthiaume pointed out, those doses are usable from the point of their arrival until their expiry date. We're not concerned about a tailing off of effectiveness.
Perhaps I misinterpreted your question.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ron McKinnon
Thank you, Mr. Thériault.
We'll go now to Mr. Davies.
Mr. Davies, please go ahead for two and a half minutes.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Ms. Elmslie, last week it was confirmed that 300,000 of the 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca doses that Canada received from the Serum Institute of India will expire in just one month's time. Did another jurisdiction or purchaser reject those doses?
Vice-President, Immunization Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
I do not have any information on that question. I will certainly be happy to get back to you with an answer, but I'm not aware of that.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Dr. Quach-Thanh, in light of NACI's recommendation against use in adults 65 and older, are you confident that those doses will be administered before they expire?
Chair, National Advisory Committee on Immunization and Professor, Université de Montréal
I hope so, but the rollouts are provincial jurisdiction, so I don't have any say on that matter.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I want to turn to the issue of extending second doses to four months.
Cole Pinnow, the president of Pfizer, said the following this week to this committee:
All the research to date on our vaccine has been done with two doses that have a schedule of 21 days. The recommendation that's been put in place by NACI, as highlighted earlier, in Canada is the only one in the world that is recommending an extended dose delivery.
He then continued:
The data that we've seen from a real-world evidence perspective that has been used to make arguments to extend the dose schedule has been with regard to much younger populations. The fact is that we don't have any data after two months to know what the impact of one dose will be.
Is extending the dose interval to four months a responsible choice for older populations in light of what Mr. Pinnow told this committee?
Chair, National Advisory Committee on Immunization and Professor, Université de Montréal
As I said, you're right. We have data up to two months on, including data for long-term care facility residents, in whom the vaccine effectiveness is above 80%. In that data, we don't see a decline of vaccine effectiveness over time, up to two months.
What the modelling has shown us is that even if we were to include a 5% decline of vaccine effectiveness over time, the benefit in terms of a decrease in hospitalizations and mortality at the Canadian level would still be beneficial.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Well, that's your speculation based on models. It's not based on data.
Chair, National Advisory Committee on Immunization and Professor, Université de Montréal
But you know what? Because we're in a pandemic, at times we have to make decisions that are difficult.