Health Committee on Jan. 18th, 2022

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Thank you.

The Novavax, Medicago and Sanofi vaccines are under review. Health Canada is working very closely with the companies to obtain the information required to complete their review. As that comes in, coupled with our collaborative work with other regulators elsewhere in the world, it will enable us to complete those decisions as well.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Dr. Lucas, may I interrupt you and ask if Novavax is approved by other countries right now? If it is, how many other countries have approved it?

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

I believe it has been approved in the context of the WHO listing. Canada is working with other regulators to complete our review. We are anticipating that completion in the coming weeks.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Minister, the COVID—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Davies. That's your time.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Okay. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Next we have Mr. Williams, please, for five minutes.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thanks for being here.

Canadian innovators stepped up when asked to solve the shortage of PPE in 2020. Distilleries switched to make hand sanitizer and cleaning products. Canadian companies retooled and produced whatever was needed for the pandemic. However, Canadian companies like Eclipse Innovations in Cambridge, Ontario, have millions of respirators sitting on shelves as of this month. They can't move them, while some nurses and doctors in Canada are still saying they lack proper PPE.

Health Canada had announced a made-in-Canada change for companies that met the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, standards to get Canadian PPE out the door, but so far this PPE is sitting in warehouses and not in our doctors and nurses' hands. This is because it was not properly communicated that the made-in-Canada designation would suffice in local hospitals and health care settings. Those settings are still procuring PPE from international and not Canadian companies.

Minister, what percentage of PPE procured by the federal government at this date is made in Canada?

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

Thank you very much for the question, and thank you for being there, MP Williams. I have yet to know you really well, because you are a relatively new MP.

There are two things here. The first is on the considerable effort and success that manufacturers across Canada have had in procuring all sorts of equipment for Canadians, including, as you mentioned, personal protective equipment, N95 masks, surgical masks and many other tools. That is the first thing for which we need to be and want to be very grateful, so thanks for signalling that.

The second thing is that as these pieces are delivered to provinces and territories, they are delivered to them on the basis of their needs and requests. Officials work extremely well together to make sure that our—

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Minister, I really appreciate that, but right now what percentage of Canadian PPE is procured by the federal government?

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

That obviously depends on all sorts of equipment and particular tools.

What I was going to say is that the actual use of those pieces of equipment depends, obviously, on the demand and the need of provinces and territories.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Minister, I appreciate that. That wasn't my question, but I don't think you have that answer right now and I would appreciate it if you would get that answer.

My second part was on the communication about its being made in Canada. At this point hospitals and health care settings don't have that information, so they are still procuring from international suppliers, not Canadian ones. This is coming from Canadian manufacturers. What's being done about the communication that is hurting Canadian PPE manufacturers at this point?

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

We're doing three things, and as you have said earlier, very successfully.

The first was to encourage and support Canadian manufacturers in quickly and efficiently providing all sorts of equipment and tools that we were in need of for COVID-19.

The second thing we have done really well was to work with provinces and territories to deliver those different tools and pieces of equipment that they were in need of during COVID-19.

The third thing we're doing right now is investing even more in domestic capacity, both in research and development and in the production capacity of Canadian manufacturers.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

I'm hearing that you don't have those procurement numbers yet, but what I'm hearing from local manufacturers and from across Canada is that they are not able to get their PPE out. We want to make sure the federal government is buying Canadian-manufactured PPE. I think it's very important. If you could just please put that out, let's make sure we have some communication. I think we want to help Canada to be ahead of this, not be average.

With regard to my second question, Minister, I know that my colleague Mr. Davies has already asked about some of this. Novavax and Medicago offer made-in-Canada vaccines that are not only innovative but can help vaccinate the world. The new news from Novavax is they are helping to develop a flu and COVID vaccine, but Novavax is still not approved in Canada.

My question for you, Mr. Minister, as we have had $126 million of our money invested in the new facility in Montreal and as Minister Champagne said we would be producing these vaccines in December, and we are not, when will Canada be producing its made-in-Canada vaccines, sir?

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

Thank you.

Here are a couple of brief things.

First, it's indeed exactly true that we are so fortunate to have had science in the last 22 months saving hundreds of thousands of lives, and the contribution to science has been made in large part by companies like Medicago, which is in fact in my home town—

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Minister, when will they be approved?

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

—and of which, obviously, I am very proud.

The second thing is we need to be vaccinated. I would remind every member of Parliament of that simple message—

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Minister, when will they be approved?

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

—and the third thing is that because we need to be vaccinated, each and every one of us, I will turn to Deputy Minister Lucas to tell us more about the approval process for further vaccines.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Well, Minister, I would love the minister to answer. Will the vaccines be approved in the next month?

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

Well, that's a decision that is obviously made by independent, rigorous, very intelligent, outstanding experts at Health Canada.

I will therefore turn to Deputy Minister Lucas for more guidance on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

We are out of time. If it's at all possible to add a couple of brief comments, Dr. Lucas, go right ahead, but if you want to follow up with a more comprehensive written response, I will leave it to you.

If you can respond very quickly, go ahead.

[Dr. Stephen Lucas]

Thank you.

In regard to the regulatory submissions for Novavax and Medicago, the Health Canada dedicated regulatory teams for each submission are working very hard at them. They are dependent on information from the companies to complete those reviews, but we expect to be making decisions on both vaccines in the coming weeks.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Dr. Lucas. Thank you, Mr. Williams.

Next is Ms. Sidhu, please, for five minutes.