Health Committee on April 16th, 2021

[Iain Stewart]

I think the question is better answered by my colleague, Dr. Tam.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

But you're the head of Health Canada.

In all seriousness, can you tell Canadians that once we've rolled out vaccines, it will help bend the curve?

[Iain Stewart]

We find that as each person gets vaccinated, the number of people in the community who are at risk of infection.... The community becomes better protected as more people are vaccinated. Therefore, we expect the incidence of COVID will go down.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

When do you think you would advise for the public health measures you mentioned, like lockdown, to be lifted? What work are you doing on that? How do vaccinations play into that?

[Iain Stewart]

The chief public health officer of the Government of Canada gives us the advice on these kinds of issues. She's here with us today.

It might be more appropriate to direct these questions to her, Mr. Chair.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I'll ask very quickly. Dr. Tam, do you stand by your statement that vaccines aren't a panacea?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Vaccines are a major contributor to how we're going to get out of this pandemic, but they are not the only thing that will do that.

Right now, to get things under control fast, public health measures must come into play. It's both.

Then, until many people in Canada are vaccinated, vaccines are unlikely to help rapidly for people, but they are an incredible tool.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

How many people need to be vaccinated in Canada by the end of May for us to “bend the curve” with the spread of variants?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

You just defined numerous parameters that are at play.

The variants increase your Rt, which means more people will have to be vaccinated, depending on how that evolves. As I say, it's the stringency of the public health measures that's going to help bend this curve while the vaccines are taking hold. We do not know precisely how much vaccines reduce transmission.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Are you concerned that without having some certainty or information about this in public, that Canadians might not be getting the message on this?

I want people to take vaccines, but statements like “vaccines aren't a panacea”.... As the chief public health officer, when you say that, do you have concerns that it might cause concern among Canadians, or that they might ask, why bother?

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Many Canadians want to get vaccinated; you see them queuing up. The uptake's been very high in the priority groups.

Vaccines prevent you from dying and getting into the ICU, which is really important.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

With the time remaining, I have just one question for the deputy minister of procurement.

Are any of the Pfizer doses that were announced today manufactured in the U.S., or are they all manufactured in the EU?

[Bill Matthews]

The supply arrangements we have in place, Mr. Chair, allow for Canada to draw from multiple sources. I'm not able to disclose at this time where the actual doses are coming from.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Why not?

[Bill Matthews]

We need to maintain the security of our supply.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner.

We go now to Mr. Van Bynen for five minutes.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Two things I've heard have really stood out for me: This is an unprecedented pandemic, and the results as we go forward are unpredictable.

I see no value in having our armchair critics who have no medical credentials second-guess what has been done and can't be changed. The real value for Canadians is to provide constructive suggestions for the consideration of people who are professionals.

Mayor John Tory said that you can't make vaccines out of thin air. That is very true.

I'm disappointed that we didn't permit Minister Anand to finish her introductory comments. I'm asking Minister Anand to do so with the balance of my time.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I will start off at the end of my remarks. Thank you to the honourable member for asking me to continue.

We began with our procurements in vaccines by building a diversified portfolio of vaccine candidates as soon as they began to show promise, signing agreements in principle with potential suppliers as early as July 2020.

Our objective was to place Canada in a solid position to take delivery of doses as soon as vaccines were deemed safe and effective—and that is precisely what we have done.

We gained access to more than 400 million doses of potential vaccines from eight different manufacturers, resulting in one of the most diverse portfolios in the world.

This diverse portfolio is giving Canadians security in what has been and continues to be an extremely volatile marketplace for vaccines. It is thanks to this diverse portfolio that we are now seeing inoculations happening at record numbers across this country, and that we have been able to bring into Canada record numbers of vaccines. Yes, we of course continue to understand that more supply is needed. That is why our team and Deputy Matthews's team are continuing to work around the clock.

The deal with Pfizer that we announced today is just one example of the type of work we are doing. We have accelerated more than 22 million doses already to earlier quarters. This deal with Pfizer today indicates that even more doses are being accelerated to next month. We are doubling the number of Pfizer doses coming into the country next month and in June.

We will continue this work. We will continue to pull vaccines from multiple sources around the world, including from Europe—from Belgium, Spain and Switzerland—from South Korea, from India and from the United States. It is this diversified portfolio of vaccines that we will continue to lean on as we bring vaccines into this country.

In addition, I would like to thank all colleagues around the table for their concern and work on ensuring that our country sees itself through this pandemic together. What we need, now more than ever, is to collaborate together with provinces and with territories, and indeed as parliamentarians.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

How much time do I have, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

You have about 30 seconds.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Minister Hajdu, Health Canada, PHAC and NACI have done a great job in providing regular updates to Canadians, but I think many people still don't have a clear picture of who is responsible for each aspect of the vaccines. When we hear from the officials of Health Canada, PHAC or NACI, our opposition colleagues make an assumption that they're not aligned. I'm wondering if you could inform our colleagues here today on how these various independent experts are working to keep Canada safe.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I don't think I have much time, given the clock, but I will just say that they are indeed working very closely together. Dr. Tam works very closely with NACI. NACI works very closely with Health Canada.

This advice evolves, as you know, based on the science and research that accumulates on these vaccines. I want to thank everyone for doing that hard work. It certainly is giving a road map for Canadians and for provinces and territories, enabling them to take that advice and then provide those vaccines across the country.

I would just like to say that I have a profound and deep respect for the scientists and researchers and doctors who are leading the way. I would really encourage all members of Parliament to work together now. This is the time, if never before, for a team Canada approach, to support the hard work of our researchers and our doctors and to stop the fearmongering that is indeed harmful to Canadians' safety.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen.

Mr. Maguire, please go ahead for five minutes.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to get some clarification here on some questions I've been waiting to ask in regard to the communications around the government and some of the things they've said about AstraZeneca and some of the vaccine issues. I am wondering if they can clarify the confusion they've put out in people's minds in regard to the mixed messages they've had regarding the usage of AstraZeneca—first of all, not being able to use it for people over 65 and then not being able to use it under 55.

Could you clarify that, Minister?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Actually, it's a fairly simple concept. As science changes and as research evolves, in fact advice evolves. This is the nature of the scientific approach, that we respond to the new information, commit to transparency to Canadians and evolve our advice based on the research and science that we understand.

As you know, NACI is an independent advisory board—