Thank you.
Minister, Dr. Quach-Thanh from NACI yesterday very bluntly said that Canada has had to effectively take rationing measures for vaccines, basically because of a lack of supply. She was very clear about that on several occasions. One example of the rationing is extending the administration of a second dose to four months.
Your government has repeatedly said it relies on science, but Canada's chief science advisor, Dr. Mona Nemer, who's presumably advising your government, said with respect to this that “it amounts right now to a basically population level experiment” and that she thinks “it's really important that we stick with the data and with the great science that give[s] us these fantastic vaccines, and not tinker with it.”
Then last week the Pfizer Canada president said this about the four months: “The fact is, we don't have any data after two months to know what the impact of one dose will be.”
As health minister, can you tell us how it is respecting science and data to have a recommendation from Health Canada to extend doses to four months in light of that advice and opinion from NACI and your chief science advisor?