43rd PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION Standing Committee on Health EVIDENCE NUMBER 018 Friday, February 12, 2021 Chair: Mr. Ron McKinnon 1 Standing Committee on Health Friday, February 12, 2021 ● (1105) I think we really need to know a few things. We need to know [English] what the federal government is doing to detect and monitor variants and how they're communicating with the provincial governments The Chair (Mr. Ron McKinnon (Coquitlam—Port Coquit‐ on this. lam, Lib.)): Good morning, everybody. As we know, the weather across the country is varied, but we're here today and ready to do With regard to the efficacy of our vaccine portfolio, in terms of some good work. when these vaccines are scheduled to be approved, or the assump‐ Welcome to meeting number 18 of the House of Commons tions, we know that the regulator does that. Politicians don't do that, Standing Committee on Health. The committee is meeting today as but we need to know what assumptions the government is making requested per Standing Order 106(4) and a letter dated February 9 with regard to approval of different vaccine candidates in the con‐ by four members of the committee to discuss their request to under‐ text of their efficacy, including against some of these variants, par‐ take a briefing on the emergence of COVID-19 variants in Canada. ticularly given that epidemiologists around the world are concerned that these variants could become dominant strains. I know that the Ms. Rempel, I believe it's your motion, if you wish to move it. I Americans are particularly concerned that the British variant could believe we all have copies of the letter, so I don't think you need to become the dominant strain by the middle of March, which is why read it unless you wish to. they're accelerating their vaccination plan. Please go ahead. I'm looking at reports. There are concerns. I know there are dif‐ Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC): ferent schools of thought. I've seen different reports in the last week Thanks, Chair. about whether or not the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against the South African variant. It's incumbent upon the health commit‐ This has been another week in the health committee during the tee, to put it mildly, to understand what the federal government is pandemic, and there have been big changes. In the last week, a few doing. There hasn't been a lot of information from our government concerning things have happened. First of all, we have had more re‐ put forward yet with regard to these issues, and I would hope that ports of the British variant in Canada, and I will remind colleagues we could all ask the federal government if it has put sufficient re‐ that this variant was detected in a very tragic and severe outbreak in sources in place to monitor these issues and what the curve is, or a Barrie area long-term care facility. Through that tragedy, I think what it's anticipating in terms of our capacity to vaccinate the popu‐ we all saw what this variant could do in Canada. lation versus its modelling for the spread of the variant. The South African variant has also been detected in Canada. I think a lot of Canadians are bearing with these long dark days that That was the genesis of using Standing Order 106(4). I know that are cold, but they're also bearing with, in most parts of the country, with Family Day on Monday, we weren't scheduled to meet until a second significant lockdown. With provinces looking at potential‐ Friday next week, but every day counts right now, and our commit‐ ly lifting some of these restrictions, I think it's incumbent upon our tee is in the belly of the beast. committee to get a briefing on some very pertinent technical infor‐ mation. For the record, Chair, just so that it is moved according to all procedure here, I move: In the last week, countries around the world have started to re‐ port their concern with this, particularly regarding the ability of do‐ That the committee invite the following representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada to give a joint presentation of no more than 15 minutes: mestic vaccination programs to outpace the spread of the variant. Without getting overly partisan here, I think everybody would Roman Szumski, Senior Vice President of the Vaccine Acquisition Branch agree that Canada is behind the rest of the world right now in terms Gina Charos and/or Stephen Bent, Director General level official for the Centre of vaccinating our population. for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases CNN is reporting on Canada's vaccination status. We have less Bersabel Ephrem, Director General of the Centre for Communicable Diseases than 3% of our population vaccinated, while the Americans are at and Infection Control, over 10% now, on track to have over 150 million people vaccinated within the first 100 days of President Biden's administration. The Cindy Evans, Acting Vice President of the Emergency Management Branch U.K. is at 20%. Kim Elmslie, Vice President of the Immunization Branch 2 HESA-18 February 12, 2021 That Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, Chair of the National Advisory Committee on issues. If we don't, it's incumbent upon Parliament to ensure that we Immunization be invited to give a presentation of no more than 7 minutes; do, and that's the job of each of us here. ● (1110) That the above witnesses be asked to present on the following: a. current outbreaks, occurrences, and modelling for COVID-19 variant spread Thank you, Chair. I hope that all of my colleagues of all political in Canada as it relates to projected vaccination rollout timelines; stripes will support this motion today, that we can quickly pass it b. capacity to surveil the emergence, prevalence, and spread of variants; and that we can move on with business. c. current federal government assumptions regarding vaccine effectiveness on variants in the context of the federal government’s vaccine portfolio; d. Canada’s procurement of variant related booster shots; The Chair: Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner. That the witnesses remain available for question rounds after their presentations, that the meeting be no less than two hours duration, and that it be held no later than February 19, 2021. We will undertake debate on this motion. I have a few things to say to, hopefully, pre-emptively answer questions colleagues might have. We've asked for specific director general-level persons within the I have Mike.... Sorry, Mr. Kelloway, please go ahead. Public Health Agency of Canada, because I'd like to get more tech‐ nical-level information than what is typically provided at high-level media briefings. This is why we'd like to have representatives who Mr. Mike Kelloway (Cape Breton—Canso, Lib.): You can call we know are actually doing the technical modelling and the techni‐ me Mike any time, Mr. Chair. cal work right now on the ground. Chair, with regard to putting the time limits on the presentations of 15 minutes and seven minutes, we've asked for a lot of witness‐ Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. es, and we don't want to eat up the whole two-hour meeting with presentations. We would hope that the people who are requested to come to committee will be able to provide written briefs to the I understand that there's going to be a birthday soon. Happy committee in both official languages prior to the committee meet‐ birthday this weekend, MP Rempel Garner. ing as well. Really, what I'm trying to get at here is information. Beyond the high-level messaging that reporters and parliamentarians are getting I don't disagree with this motion. It's something that I'll support. on a daily basis, I really want to know what the federal government is doing with regard to this. I've also heard from provincial col‐ leagues across the country that they would like to hear this as well. I think what I'd like to talk about a bit—and I think Michelle I really think that this is where we need to be managing to as a highlighted some aspects of it—is just about the committee. My ex‐ committee. I think the context of the rest of our COVID-19 study perience over the past year and a half—and, for that matter, over 30 also needs to be urgently framed out into this information, given the years in community development—is in terms of the ability to work level of urgency that has been expressed by media and by epidemi‐ collegially and respectfully together to get to a particular item, in ologists around the world and the fact that, frankly, putting it mild‐ terms of picking up the phone and establishing a rapport with each ly, we are behind in vaccinating Canadians. Given that provinces other individually or collectively offline. In this case, we have an are looking at lifting provincial restrictions in the coming weeks, existential crisis that every country is battling, and every country is and given that we are behind in vaccinating Canadians right now, I doing its best to ensure hope, health and safety. would like to know how that fits with the spread of variants. I also think that we have to start giving Canadians some hope that Parliament is finding a way out of this. I know it's a shifting As for what I see here—again, in my interpretation of this—what situation, but people who are at home and who are being asked to I'd like to see is more of the collegiality in terms of the connectivity sacrifice a lot, be it their jobs or their mental health, and in many between each other, and not to even get to this point of issuing a situations, front-line health care workers...