Health committee  Mr. Thériault, I can answer in both languages. It will take a little more time, but I'll keep it very brief.

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Rempel Garner. With regard to vaccine resistance, the data is still unclear. What is important to note is that health care workers do not have the option of staying away and not providing direct care to COVID-19-positive patients. There's no doubt—and the data are clear—that delaying the second dose provides a vulnerability window, if you will, even after the two-week period following the first dose.

Health committee  Thanks for mentioning that. Indeed, the Public Health Agency of Canada report that was published in The Globe and Mail this morning is interesting. It notes that 53 infections caused death after receipt of only the first dose, so definitely it's not an impossible occurrence. We have seen at all major institutions patients and health care workers becoming sick after having received only one dose of vaccination.

Health committee  I think those data are not current at the present time.

Health committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning, everyone. I would like to begin by thanking all the members of the committee for giving me the opportunity to represent the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. My name is Marc Ruel. I'm the chief of cardiac surgery and a cardiac surgeon at the Heart Institute in Ottawa.