Health committee  Thank you for the question. I think, yes, the number of tests—and by that, I mean PCR tests—being done around the country has been reduced, but of course rapid tests have come into play. We don't have samples from those rapid tests in order to look for variants or sequencing, bu

Health committee  We of course have to observe this over time, because many people got boosted more recently. What we're seeing is that third doses do increase protection against infection or symptomatic disease and, therefore, transmission, but that does decline over time. We're just trying to pl

Health committee  Mr. Chair, I'll take this question. That is correct. We are seeing some of the highest rates of infection as well as hospitalizations in the very young. The most senior populations still have the highest risks, but not surprisingly, if the younger children get sick, since they h

Health committee  Thank you for your question. I think the most important thing is the global surveillance system, as you've said. Because surveillance has improved and genomics have improved, we are able to monitor these variants. Yes, it's quite possible for these variants to come from countr

Health committee  That would be a cabinet decision.

Health committee  Yes, I'll take that question. Despite the change in the spike protein through different variants, up until omicron, two doses of vaccine retained really good vaccine effectiveness against the most prominent ones, even though we were monitoring for waning immunity. When omicron a

Health committee  In my view, no. As I just said in my last response, we are in a transition phase. An endemic period is where we have much more predictability in the pattern of this virus and can then anticipate a more regularized response, if you like. We're not there yet, so we have to be caref

Health committee  That is not my decision to make. I would encourage everybody, whether there is a mandate or not, to continue to wear a mask in indoor public settings when you're not with people who are in your household.

Health committee  At the height of a sixth wave, no, I don't think we should be lifting mask recommendations or mandates.

Health committee  That's unpredictable, because in that scenario, you can potentially have a virus that goes somewhat under the radar, maybe developing in an immunocompromised host—

Health committee  I don't think we know the probability, and that's not modelling. It's scenario planning, to clarify that particular presentation. You have to account for both of those scenarios. We don't really know, but I think it definitely could happen, and we need to plan for it.

Health committee  Mr. Chair, maybe I will take this question. That's a very important question. Of course, we are learning about both the virus and the vaccines over time. The duration of the protection of the vaccine, which we saw as extremely good with two doses of vaccine at the start, really

Health committee  I think that at the moment we, together with the other chief medical officers, have been characterizing this period as a transition period. We hope we're passed the extreme acute phase, the crisis phase of the pandemic, but we're on the road to a more steady state. We're not ther

Health committee  Thank you for that question. I think that vaccines remain a cornerstone of our ongoing management of COVID-19, and it is really important to continue to encourage uptake of the first two doses but also the boosters now for up-to-date vaccination. I think there are a number of r

Health committee  Mr. Chair, I thank the member for her question. This is an extremely important question because mental health is of course very important. The overall health of the population—even before the pandemic—is something we have to address in a more concerted manner, but the pandemic h