Madam Speaker, I recently met with local firefighters in Port Alberni who are members of the International Association of Fire Fighters. They are concerned that, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening their key fire and emergency medical service response, the risk of exposure is much higher for firefighters than the general population since they provide emergency medical response as part of their duties. Right now they are urging the government to ensure that firefighters, as emergency health care providers, are included in a priority group for health care workers for the available COVID-19 vaccines so they can get enough to ensure firefighters are healthy and remain available for duty in order to protect Canadians.
This did not happen during H1N1. Unfortunately, firefighters were not included in the same group as health care workers then. Rather, they were categorized in the same tier as the general public. There is a ton of anxiety right now and a lot of unknowns. They want to know they are going to be protected.
Can the member speak about the importance of getting this information out to the first responders who are putting their lives on the line and the impact this could have on small fire departments like those in the city of Port Alberni?