Mr. Chair, I'll speak in part to that from a Health Canada perspective and turn to Dr. Kochhar to speak from a Public Health Agency perspective.
Certainly the supplementary estimates do include important investments to support our work on COVID-19.
On the side of Health Canada in particular, it includes statutory funding of nearly $1.8 billion to support the acquisition of rapid tests. To date, we have acquired over 800 million rapid tests to support Canadians across the country in all regions, of which 560 million have been acquired this year and provided to the provinces and territories, not-for-profit organizations and others to support communities across the country.
We also have support in the estimates to support our work on the regulatory system to ensure expeditious review, ensuring the safety, efficacy and quality of vaccines and treatments for Canadians.
I'll turn to Dr. Kochhar to speak specifically to the public health side.