Thank you.
Mr. Minister, while Health Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines for use in Canada to date, there remain several outstanding applications from Sanofi Pasteur, Vasogen Inc., Medicago and Novavax. For individuals who may be vaccine hesitant or who may have concerns about the use of mRNA vaccine technology, access to such alternate vaccine formulations as the Novavax protein subunit vaccine could encourage uptake.
Minister, given that your government once boasted of securing the most diverse vaccine portfolio in the world, why do Canadians have such limited access to alternate COVID-19 vaccines as are being used in countries like India or the Philippines?