Evidence of meeting #9 for Health in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was answer.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I don't know if you understood the question. The question was, who has been held accountable for those conclusions? If you don't know, you can just say that you don't know.
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, the Public Health Agency of Canada accepts the recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General, and we thank her for the attention on these important issues.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
One of the reports noted limited public health expertise, including epidemiologists, psychologists, behavioural scientists and physicians at senior levels. The audit also found a lack of emergency response management expertise and capacity within the agency.
What steps has PHAC taken since the publication of this report to ensure that the agency has the expertise and capacity to fulfill its mandate?
Laila Goodridge
The Public Health Agency has increased its resources over the course of the pandemic. That's with respect to epidemiologists and physicians, as well as a number of laboratory technologists.
Certainly we are facing a pandemic that we haven't seen the nature of in a hundred years. While working with our colleagues in the jurisdictions, similarly, both the magnitude and length of the response created pressures on the types of resources we require.
We are pleased that the recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General are certainly moving forward in strengthening the Public Health Agency with respect to our organizational structure to bring clarity and attention to these areas as well in our training programs within the emergency management plans.
We've been quite fortunate with two programs, the Canadian field epidemiology program, which formed a key support during the COVID-19 response, as well as the Canadian public health service. Our ability to utilize those particularly epidemiological resources has certainly served us well, and we will be looking to bolster programs like those as well as others going forward.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you Ms. Evans and Mr. Davies.
Next is Dr. Ellis, please, for five minutes.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank everybody for appearing here before the committee.
As my colleague said, we have limited time, so some of these questions may need simply yes or no answers, or numbers.
This is for PHAC. The Prime Minister has stated that 90% of Canadians are double vaccinated. Your numbers seem to be different from that. Can someone please tell me how many Canadians over the age of 12 have been vaccinated twice?
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, although the vaccine rollout is managed by the Public Health Agency, those officials are not here with us today to respond to the Office of the Auditor General's report, but we'd be pleased to follow up in writing with the committee on that question.
Thank you.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Fair enough.
For PHAC again, do we have the rights to produce Novavax domestically?
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, respectfully, it's outside of the purview of the the officials here today to speak to the vaccine rollout program—
Laila Goodridge
—but we would certainly undertake to provide appropriate information back to the committee in writing.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
And what about antivirals? Do we have the rights to produce them domestically?
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, with respect, it's outside of the purview of the officials here today to speak to the antiviral file. Again, we'd be happy to provide appropriate information to the committee in writing.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Okay, these are all interesting answers.
What about rapid tests? How many of those are made in Canada?
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, the officials are here today prepared to answer questions with respect to the Auditor General's audit, so unfortunately we don't have an official today who could speak to that. We'd be happy to follow up with the committee in writing in response to those questions.
Thank you.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Okay.
What about border measures? We've often heard that we've had some struggles with border measures. We've talked about the percentage of sensitivity of rapid tests. We've talked about the leakiness of data.
Now we also know that everywhere in the world there is COVID, so does closing the borders work?
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
The border measures are only one part of the government's response to the pandemic. Certainly based on our data, looking at positivity rates, we have been able to monitor importation risks, and all of this contributes to limiting risk to Canadians. So my answer would be, yes. Like everything else, they need improvement and continuous adjustment, but they have certainly been effective in contributing to slowing down importation risks to Canada.
February 28th, 2022 / 4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Do we we have an expert here today who could speak about Novavax? Maybe that's easier.
Vice-President, Health Security and Regional Operations Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
No, Mr. Chair.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
No on Novavax. Okay, and we have no antiviral person and no rapid test person, either.
Do we have someone who knows anything about PPE?
Laila Goodridge
Mr. Chair, I'd be pleased to answer questions regarding the national emergency strategic stockpile and PPE.
Conservative
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Okay, that would be great.
How many manufacturers of PPE do we have in Canada, including of gloves, gowns and masks?
Laila Goodridge
I can't speak specifically to the number of manufacturers. I will say that 70% of the Public Health Agency's contracts for the N95 respirators are domestic; 50% of the surgical masks that are procured by the Public Health Agency are domestically manufactured; 100% of the face shields procured by PHAC are domestically manufactured; and 25% of the disposable gowns have been domestically manufactured.