Mr. Chair, I will make a first attempt at answering that question.
The vaccine impacts of variants of concern are being tracked globally from real, live data that has to be collected. So far, we know that the vast majority of the variants of concern are concerning because they have an increased ability to spread quickly.
In terms of impacts of vaccines, the current data suggests that for the B.1.1.7 variant, and indeed for the latest variant of concern, the B.1.617 variant—originally reported from India, some of these subtypes—we expect the vaccines to provide coverage. For others there may be some reduced impacts of the vaccine, but we still expect that the vaccine will work to a certain extent.
The most important thing is to get vaccinated. Of the variants spreading the most in Canada, we expect the vaccines to have an impact on them.