Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will begin by saying that I am currently on the traditional territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people.
Mr. Chair, honourable members, thank you for inviting me to speak to you today about recent COVID‑19 developments in Canada.
I would also like to thank all members of the Standing Committee on Health and all committee staff for their important work over the past few months of the pandemic.
The senior officials joining me today include Stephen Lucas, deputy minister of Health Canada; Paul Thompson, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada; Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada; Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar, president of the Public Health Agency of Canada; and Matthew Tunis, a member of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, or NACI, who will be joining us shortly.
I would like to thank them for being here and, in advance, for their cooperation today as part of the committee's work.
As you know, with the rapid spread of the omicron variant in our country, we continue to be on high alert. COVID-19 is a crisis unlike any other we have experienced in recent memory in this country. The omicron variant has added a new layer of complexity. Despite this, our government and our whole country continue to respond quickly to protect the health and safety of everyone.
Today, my colleagues and I will bring you up to date on these efforts.
Last week, on January 13, I met with our provincial and territorial colleagues for the sixth time since December to discuss our collective efforts to strengthen our defences against the omicron variant.
The conversation was extremely productive, as were the measures. For the past two years, the provinces and territories have stepped up public health measures to contain or at least limit the spread of this virus, and the federal government has supported them.
The Government of Canada has provided significant federal surge funding and resources to protect Canadians and support the response to COVID‑19.
Indeed, the federal government has provided the provinces and territories with eight out of every 10 dollars spent in Canada to fight COVID‑19.
As you know, vaccination is one of the most effective ways to protect ourselves against COVID-19. So far, nearly 78% of all Canadians of all ages have received their primary vaccination of two doses.
In terms of continuing access to vaccines, Canada has secured COVID‑19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for 2022 and 2023, with options to extend into 2024.
In addition to providing booster vaccine doses, these agreements provide flexibility to procure future COVID‑19 vaccine formulations, based on the evolution of the epidemiological situation in Canada.
Vaccination campaigns are going very well across the country. Booster campaigns are well under way, and 34% of eligible Canadians have received a booster dose.
Furthermore, more than 48% of children aged 5–11 have received their first dose.
Rapid tests are another important tool in our fight against COVID-19 and its variants. Earlier this month, the Government of Canada announced that an additional 140 million rapid antigen tests will be delivered to provinces and territories on a per capita basis in January. Deliveries are on the way.
The Government of Canada is also working to ensure that health care and frontline workers have the medical and protective equipment supplies they require to do their jobs.
The Government of Canada launched a bulk procurement process in 2020 to rapidly and efficiently procure personal protective equipment. Thanks to this aggressive approach, the Government of Canada has now secured over 2.7 billion pieces of PPE.
Our government also remains committed to using all the tools available to protect Canadians. This includes easy access to easy-to-use treatments for Canadians, such as Paxlovid, which is critical to reducing the severity of COVID-19 in those people who are at high risk of progressing to serious illness, and will therefore help ease the burden on our health care system. That's why yesterday I was so pleased to announce, alongside Minister Filomena Tassi, that Canada has received the initial delivery of a shipment of 30,400 treatment courses of Pfizer COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment.
Mr. Chair, in conclusion, this is just a snapshot of some of the current and recent actions our government is taking to protect the health of all Canadians.
As you know, a lot of work is going on behind the scenes with our many partners across all levels of government.
We know that we must continue with public health efforts to reduce transmission of the virus and minimize its overall impact.
The Government of Canada will continue to do everything within its power to protect the health, safety and well-being of Canadians.
I'll now pass it over to my deputy minister, Dr. Stephen Lucas.