Health Committee on May 21st, 2021

[Bill Matthews]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll make a couple of points, I guess, to start.

The vaccine portfolio includes vaccines across three platforms. I think members know that there are four authorized in Canada: the Moderna, Pfizer, Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna make up the vast majority of deliveries to date.

The other point to make is that there are still vaccine contracts that have yet to deliver. They are still in the works, in terms of stepping through their clinical trials and then going on to production. It's the variety of the portfolio across numerous types of vaccines, but also numerous different suppliers, that is the best mitigation against risk in terms of lack of delivery. There will be bumps, and we've seen them. It's this variety that's important to protect or ensure deliveries for Canadians.

If the member's question is more around the benefit of having various different types of vaccines, from an mRNA to a viral vector to a protein type, I'd have to turn to the Public Health Agency or maybe Dr. Tam.

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

Let me see if I can understand the question properly.

Having broad ranges of vaccine was very important at the beginning of our vaccine program and our strategies, because we actually had very little information about how these vaccines were going to perform. The really fortunate thing for Canada is that all the authorized vaccines.... You've seen how incredible the mRNA vaccines have performed in clinical trials. It is important to have diversity in portfolio, but we also are very fortunate that our foundational vaccine backbone, which is the mRNA vaccine, including the Pfizer vaccine, is performing so well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Ms. Sidhu.

We'll go now to Mr. d'Entremont for five minutes.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Thank you very much.

I want to go back to where I left off when we were talking about the COVAX doses.

How many doses of vaccine is Canada going to be receiving from COVAX between now and maybe July 1?

[Iain Stewart]

Bill, do you want to take that or do you want me to respond?

[Bill Matthews]

Maybe I can start, and Iain can chime in.

In regard to the COVAX schedule, I think the most recent delivery was already referred to, which was AstraZeneca in the past week or so.

The COVAX schedules tend to emerge a bit on short notice, so I don't have an update in terms of what the next delivery might be. I can't really forecast what might be coming in to July 1 in terms of detailed schedules, but Iain might have something to add on that front.

[Iain Stewart]

I would just add that we are expecting within five weeks that we would get a next shipment, but as Bill says, they don't tend to provide precise, tight dates. However, that's our expectation: within five weeks.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Will we at some point be stopping COVAX shipments, or on what date are we going to stop doing those?

[Iain Stewart]

The need for AstraZeneca in general, whether under our own advance procurement agreement or COVAX, and so on, is driven by what the provinces decide to do on second doses. I think the NACI report we were discussing earlier would be an influential factor here.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

That was going to be my next question.

Because of the issue of provinces shutting down their AstraZeneca vaccinations, will that change our need for those?

[Iain Stewart]

There is a scenario in which the United Kingdom data supports NACI's giving guidance that the messenger RNA vaccines are a suitable second dose, and in that instance, you might see, yes, less demand for AstraZeneca.

I think there will continue to be a demand for AstraZeneca by people who are looking for a second dose and want the same vaccine, and so on, and as I think Theresa mentioned earlier, the messenger RNA vaccines don't always....

You can have an allergic reaction, and so on, so you want to have a diversity of portfolio. Therefore, there will be some demand, but much less if it happened that way.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

My next question is probably for Mr. Matthews.

Since provinces will not be using AstraZeneca as a first dose, our requirement for that vaccine will go down.

Are we changing the contract with them? Are we requesting less AstraZeneca? Are we thinking of cancelling that contract?

[Bill Matthews]

Mr. Chair, there are a couple of points to make here.

There is a contract with AstraZeneca for 20 million doses, and the first deliveries against that were through an exchange that I think members are aware of. As the future unfolds and we get a better sense of what provinces might want in terms of additional AstraZeneca doses through the Public Health Agency, we'll talk with AstraZeneca about potential changes to that schedule.

I think what has also been discussed in various fora is Canada does have the right to donate doses that it does not need.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Could you respond quickly, because I know I'm going to run out of time quickly here too. This question is probably for PHAC.

When it comes to proof of vaccination for Canadians, we're hearing a lot about vaccine passports, or whatever we want to call them. When will people need a proof of vaccination for Canadians wishing to travel?

[Iain Stewart]

Mr. Chair and honourable member, earlier some discussion came up on this topic. We're very seized with preparing for having a significant number of people who are fully vaccinated and how we will adjust and respond at the border, and then there's a longer term issue of the international arrangements to allow Canadians who are vaccinated to go to Greece, or wherever—the internationalization of that issue. That work is also under way.

As Dr. Tam was saying, it's difficult to nail it down a specific date, because there are a number of things that we have to watch. That includes better understanding of whether the people arriving still can be carrying infection even though they've been vaccinated previously. We still need to understand that better before we can go too far.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Okay. I'm aware of a number of people who are coming home from Florida—some snowbirds—who have had their two vaccinations. Is government finding a way to recognize the vaccinations happening in other countries?

[Iain Stewart]

We are working on how we can recognize exactly a scenario such as the one you're talking about: people coming to the border who have, for instance, been vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which we ourselves use here. That is an active area of discussion.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

As a final question on the broader issue of interprovincial travel, is there consideration of checking vaccination status in order to come into Nova Scotia or to go into other provinces?

[Iain Stewart]

So far when it has come to measures regarding interprovincial travel, it has been the provinces that have been establishing them. So far, the Government of Canada has not been active in that space.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. d'Entremont.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is for Mr. Stewart.

With the recent increase in doses arriving in the country, provinces across Canada have been able to lower the eligibility criteria. In York Region alone, 52.7% of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. I'm hoping you can provide us with an update on how many people across Canada have been vaccinated to date, in numbers and percentages, particularly if you have the information with respect to younger age groups.

[Iain Stewart]

To the hon. member, Mr. Chair, we have that data. In fact, we have it on our website, giving some of the coverage data of the nature you're talking about.

Actually, we keep an ongoing league table of “by age” stratification like the one you're discussing. The best way to respond to this may be for me to generate the latest numbers and send them to the clerk for the members.

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

Thank you.

Can you tell me why we should vaccinate adolescents before we vaccinate those at risk waiting for their second dose? What does the added age group mean for the rollout, and does it change the timeline?

[Iain Stewart]

Mr. Chair and honourable member, Theresa is probably better placed to respond on this. I would just note that so far, in fact, we have not been getting to vaccinating many youth and children, but I think this issue is a very important one.

Theresa, I don't know whether you want to speak to this.