44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 22, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/22/22 3:02:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his collaboration on the health committee.
Today we know more about COVID-19 than ever before, and we are in a very different place than we were in March 2020. We have safe, effective vaccines and a highly vaccinated population as well as testing and surveillance tools and new ways to identify variants of concern to track the spread of the virus. However, the future remains uncertain, and COVID-19 is not over. There are many factors at play, and our government is committed to following the science going forward to get out of this pandemic for good.
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- Mar/22/22 3:03:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague across the way for acknowledging that my answer was both thorough and good. I also want to acknowledge that he asked some pretty good questions yesterday in committee, and I thought the answers that the minister gave him were excellent.
This is a very complex issue, and our government is going to keep making decisions based on the best science. We also understand that there are two jurisdictions; there are provincial jurisdictions and there are federal ones. The provinces will make decisions accordingly with their health officials, and we will make our decisions based on the exact same science with our health officials.
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- Mar/22/22 3:05:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to address the question from my colleague and the entire Conservative caucus, which is unmasked today and is pretending that COVID-19 is completely over.
I am sorry, but we cannot “wish” the pandemic to be over. We have to follow the science, and our government is committed to following that science.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
An hon. member: Put your mask on.
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- Mar/22/22 3:05:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will put my mask on as soon as I sit back down, like the rest of my colleagues who are committed to following the science. This pandemic is not over. Canadians—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/22/22 3:06:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want this pandemic to be over as soon as possible, just like every other member of this House. I continue to follow the science and my colleagues have continued to follow the science, and we will ensure that we get through this pandemic. However, the thing I cannot get over is the fact that over 5,000 Canadians are in the hospital right now with COVID-19, and our colleagues across do not seem to care.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/22/22 6:56:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we come out of the omicron wave, it is now important to take stock of where we are and to plan a more sustainable approach to our COVID‑19 management.
Our goal from the start has been to minimize serious illness and overall deaths, while minimizing societal disruption. That remains unchanged. As the omicron wave continues to recede, we need to recognize that COVID is not just going to disappear. While we have learned a great deal over the course of the pandemic, there still remains much uncertainty.
Our health system has been significantly strained throughout this pandemic. While there is variability in how jurisdictions across the country are assessing risks and adjusting their approaches, we will continue to recommend some individual public health measures in the near term, such as wearing masks in indoor public settings, while continuing to use vaccines and therapeutics as cornerstones of our response.
The vaccination rate in Canada is high, but it is still possible to improve our protection. As of March 13, 2022, more than 84% of Canadians had received at least one dose, more than 81% had received two doses and roughly 17 million Canadians had received a booster.
Individuals who have received an additional dose are highly protected against hospitalization. As of February 27, 2022, less than 8% of hospitalizations were among individuals fully vaccinated with an additional dose. Thanks to Canadians' adherence to public health measures and high rates of vaccination, including booster doses, our outlook for the next several months continues to improve.
As Canada emerges from this wave with vaccines widely available and higher levels of immunity because of prior infection, the focus of planning will shift toward recovery. Individual public health measures, along with vaccines and therapeutics, will remain key in protecting individuals should a virulent and highly transmissible variant of concern emerge again.
Studies have also shown that the timely implementation of public health measures will result in fewer hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, less demand on health care services and a reduced need for other more restrictive population-based measures that may result in significant societal disruption in workplaces, for example. Business closures, school closures and other closures will continue to be reduced as a result.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with its provincial and territorial partners to plan for the adoption of a more sustainable approach to intervening with respect to the continued presence of the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus.
Given the uncertainty, nimble approaches will be required as government-imposed restrictive measures are lifted. Nationally, we are seeing reported cases levelling off, while severe outcomes, like hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, are continuing to decline. While this is encouraging, there is still the potential for severity indicators to increase again as the provinces and territories begin relaxing their public health measures.
For these reasons, it is important that all Canadians continue to update their vaccine protection and make choices that reduce the risks of COVID-19 for themselves and their loved ones. A longer-term, more sustainable approach as we manage this virus will leverage all tools to balance the need to manage COVID-19 against minimizing societal disruption and enabling recovery. I would like to finish by reaffirming that this pandemic has demonstrated that we need a range of measures in our public health tool box to continue to fend off highly infectious diseases.
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- Mar/22/22 7:01:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are cautiously optimistic about the near-term trajectory for our country. We know that multiple layers of protection, including vaccination, protect us against severe health outcomes from COVID-19.
Getting as many Canadians fully vaccinated and boosted as possible while continuing to adhere to individual public health measures is expected to help us get through this phase of uncertainty. Jurisdictions will continue to adjust public health measures as required to manage a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. While vaccination does not give us full immunity from infection, it does prevent us from getting very sick and prevents the potential need for hospitalization. Across the country, unvaccinated individuals who get COVID are four times more likely to be hospitalized than fully vaccinated individuals, and they are 11 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who have received an additional dose.
The incentive for vaccines is evident. They protect us from severe illness and lessen the burden on our strained health care systems.
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