Health Committee on Jan. 18th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number three of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the committee on Friday January 14, we are meeting to receive an update on recent COVID‑19 developments from the minister and officials.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of November 25. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.

Regarding the speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether participating virtually or in person.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.

The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendations from public health authorities, as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19, to remain healthy and safe, the following is recommended for all those attending the meeting in person. This is specifically for Monsieur Berthold and Ms. Kramp-Neuman, who are here in person today.

Anyone with symptoms should participate by Zoom and not attend the meeting in person. Everyone must maintain a two-metre physical distance, whether seated or standing. Everyone must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is recommended in the strongest possible terms that members wear their masks at all times, including when seated. Non-medical masks, which provide better clarity over cloth masks, are available in the room. Everyone present must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer at the room entrance. Committee rooms are cleaned before and after each meeting. To maintain this, everyone is encouraged to clean surfaces, such as the desk, chair and microphone, with the provided disinfectant wipes when vacating or taking a seat.

I thank Ms. Kramp-Neuman and Monsieur Berthold in advance for their co-operation.

Today, we have with us for the first two hours the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, and the chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam. They are accompanied by officials from the Department of Public Works and Government Services, the Public Health Agency of Canada and, as of 1:45 p.m. eastern, Mr. Matthew Tunis from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. All will remain until we conclude at 4 p.m. eastern.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the committee on Friday, January 14, each witness organization will have five minutes to make their opening statement, up to a total of 20 minutes, before we begin rounds of questions.

With that, Minister Duclos—

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Go ahead, Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, given that, for technical reasons, the meeting started 15 minutes later, I would like to know if the minister would agree to stay 15 minutes longer and if the committee could continue working until 4:15 p.m.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Berthold. I will let the minister answer your question.

Mr. Minister, are you available to stay with us for two full hours, until 3:15 p.m.?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

I certainly am.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

All right, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

I would now like to introduce Canada's Minister of Health, the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos.

Mr. Duclos, welcome to the committee. You have five minutes to make your opening remarks. You have the floor.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

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.

[Dr. Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister, Department of Health]

Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chair, hon. members, thank you for this opportunity to speak to the committee today. It is my honour to be here to talk about what Health Canada has been doing to keep Canadian safe and healthy, as we fight COVID‑19 and the omicron variant.

As part of the health portfolio, Health Canada has played a key role in Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As new vaccines and treatments are developed, they must come to Health Canada for review and authorization before they can be used in Canada.

Health Canada's regulatory branch ensures that drugs and treatments, including vaccines, meet Canada's strict standards for safety, efficacy and quality. Given the urgency of the pandemic, measures were put in place to safely expedite this authorization process. This included an interim order, introduced in September 2020, allowing Health Canada to accept rolling submissions for drugs, including vaccines, related to COVID-19. This expedited process helped make COVID-19 vaccines available to Canadians as soon as possible in late 2020.

When the interim order expired the following year, amendments were introduced to the food and drug regulations to give permanent legal status to drugs and vaccines authorized under the order and to maintain regulatory flexibilities introduced through the interim order.

I want to assure you that my department continues to review safety and efficacy data for all authorized drugs and vaccines on an ongoing basis. That includes regular reporting on side effects.

As the pandemic continues, it is vital that we have timely access to life-saving vaccines and leading-edge treatments for COVID-19, particularly in light of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

While vaccination continues to be the best way to protect ourselves from serious illness, hospitalization and death, treatments that reduce the severity of infections are an important tool in the fight against this disease.

Health Canada has authorized several treatments for COVID‑19, including monoclonal antibody treatments.

Yesterday, Health Canada authorized Pfizer's Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to serious disease. Other submissions are being reviewed on a priority basis, including Merck's antiviral treatment molnupiravir.

Paxlovid and molnupiravir are significant, because all existing COVID-19 treatments require intravenous administration or injection in a hospital or clinical setting. These new antivirals are in pill form. They are taken orally. This represents an important step forward in ensuring timely access to COVID-19 treatments. As such, the Government of Canada has signed an agreement with Pfizer to procure an initial quantity of one million treatment courses of Paxlovid, and with Merck for 500,000 treatment courses of molnupiravir.

Now that Paxlovid has been authorized, the Public Health Agency of Canada will work in close collaboration with the provinces and territories to facilitate its distribution and provide support on its use.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government of Canada has been working closely with provincial and territorial governments to help them adapt to the challenges of delivering health care during this crisis.

Whether coordinating PPE, providing surge support, or collaborating with provinces and territories on vaccine rollout, we at the federal level have been doing everything we can to make sure that our provincial and territorial partners have the support they need. This includes supporting surge capacity, such as contact tracing, testing assistance, testing equipment, PPE and medical equipment, laboratory services, outbreak management, voluntary safe isolation sites, public health response teams and health human resources.

After two years of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, including the recent omicron surge—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Mr. Lucas, could I get you to wrap up, please?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Yes. I am.

I want to emphasize, in conclusion, that we're in a very different position from the one we were in March 2020. We've spent the last two years working with our provincial and territorial partners to build up our capacity and tools to navigate the pandemic and protect Canadians.

With that, I'll thank you and pass it over to Dr. Tam.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Lucas.

We'll now have Dr. Tam for five minutes, please.

We can't hear you, Dr. Tam. At least I can't.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Naaman Sugrue]

Dr. Tam, this is the clerk speaking. If you're getting audio from the meeting, could you please nod for us?

Okay. You may want to select the correct interpretation channel for the questions you may receive, if that's required for you.

Mr. Chair, I'm not sure if you'd like for Dr. Tam to give her statement now, or if we should go to Mr. Thompson instead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Dr. Tam, can you say a few words so we can hear you?

We're still not getting Dr. Tam.

Can we go to Dr. Kochhar, please? Dr. Kochhar, are you with us?

[Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar, President, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Mr. Chair, I am here, but Mr. Thompson is going to be next.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Okay.

Mr. Thompson, you have five minutes.

[Paul Thompson, Deputy Minister, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Department of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Chair, I'm just checking to see if you can hear me. I had to switch devices.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I can hear you as clear as a bell.

[Paul Thompson]

That's excellent. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the committee for inviting me here today. As do my colleagues, I fully appreciate the urgency of the meeting.

Having joined the department only a week ago, I'd like to start by saying I'm very proud to lead a very talented group of public servants who have been crucial to fighting COVID-19.

Since the very beginning, Public Services and Procurement has been working tirelessly to obtain the equipment and the supplies required to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Our goal is to meet the needs established by the Public Health Agency of Canada as they work with the provinces and territories to support Canadians and our health care professionals on the front lines.

Early on, our department focused on buying urgently needed PPE in what proved to be a very competitive global market with huge international demand for a finite supply of goods, most of which were being made overseas. More and more, as domestic capacity for producing PPE was stood up, we also tapped into several Canadian manufacturers. To date, PSPC has now procured some 2.7 billion pieces of equipment with a substantial amount of that being made right here in Canada. For example, we have a 10-year contract with Medicom out of Montreal to supply N95 surgical masks, and we have a contract with 3M based in Brockville for 25 million N95s annually through to 2026. Both domestic manufacturers are now providing Canada with a steady supply of masks.

When it comes to vaccines, our approach has been deliberate and comprehensive. The department led negotiations for the establishment of a robust vaccine portfolio, which has put Canada in a very fortunate position. Whether it be a first or second dose, a pediatric dose or a booster, we now have access to more than enough vaccines for every eligible Canadian, and we have contracts in place with our vaccine suppliers that will ensure a steady flow of doses into the country for years to come.

However, we know that other tools, such as rapid tests, are now more important than ever, particularly with the highly contagious omicron variant. PSPC currently has 14 agreements in place with suppliers for more than 430,000,000 rapid tests that have been secured to date. This month alone these agreements are enabling our colleagues at the Public Health Agency to distribute 140,000,000 rapid tests to provinces and territories to meet these urgent needs. We are planning for shipments to continue steadily coming into Canada over the coming months, but given the global demand, there will be challenges, and that's why we are in constant contact with suppliers.

On border testing, we've put in place new contracts to increase the capacity to collect and process tests for national travellers. These contracts are structured to allow flexibility to ensure that we can adapt to any future border-testing requirements.

We are also ensuring that Canada has access to effective treatments that can reduce the severity of COVID-19. Our department has established agreements for seven different kinds of therapeutics, and we continue to aggressively pursue additional agreements. Just yesterday, immediately following Health Canada authorization, the government announced that we have already received our first shipment of more than 30,000 treatment courses with another 120,000 coming before the end of March. In total, we have an initial order of one million treatment courses of Paxlovid secured under contract, and delivery schedules for those remaining courses are being finalized as we speak.

Mr. Chair, those are just a few examples of the department's recent works to support the pandemic response. I look forward to continuing to support the government's efforts on this front and to answering any questions.

Merci beaucoup.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you very much, Mr. Thompson.

Dr. Tam, are we good to go with your opening remarks? If not, we'll go straight to questions.

Dr. Tam, you have the floor for five minutes.

[The Clerk]

Dr. Tam, it may be that the microphone is off.

[Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada]

Can you hear me now?

I'm not using my headset microphone, but if you can hear me, I think that should be okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Are we okay with the interpreters?

[The Clerk]

The interpreters would much prefer if Dr. Tam were to use the headset. It may be that the physical button on the headset wire was pushed to mute, which I can't unmute via Zoom.

[Dr. Theresa Tam]

That's good.