OTTAWA —
The Canadian military says it is making plans to play a role in the eventual rollout of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide.
As positive news about potential vaccines continues to make headlines, there are already military teams “fully integrated” with the Public Health Agency of Canada on planning for what’s set to be a herculean effort: getting vaccines into the arms of millions of Canadians once Health Canada approves them.
During a House of Commons National Defence Committee meeting on Monday, Canadian Armed Forces Strategic Joint Staff Director of Staff Major Gen. Trevor Cadieu said the military will play a role in that effort.
“We are working with optimism and enthusiasm as part of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout task force. Specifically, the Canadian Armed Forces is assisting with the development of a logistics support plan for the rollout of the vaccine,” Cadieu told MPs.
“We’re helping to establish a national operation centre that will oversee distribution of the vaccine,” he said. “That will be the command and control hub that will coordinate the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine across the country.”
Cadieu said that Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance has dispatched some of his best planners to work on a logistic support plan that: “for all intents and purposes will be the maneuver plan to support the delivery of the vaccine across the country.”
It remains to be seen the degree of involvement the military will have, and whether it’ll be as extensive as it is in the United States. There, a general is leading the “Operation Warp Speed” effort and according to a recent 60 Minutes report, plans are in place to secure the stockpiles with armed guards.
“The chief of defence staff will be prepared to provide advice on how best to use Canadian Armed Forces resources for the actual rollout of the vaccine,” said Cadieu.
On his way in to a cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters that once a vaccine, or vaccines are in-hand, the federal government will “use all the resources that Canadians can muster… including the discussions and actions with our armed forces.”
In the last week or so, two vaccine candidates from Pfizer and Moderna have shown high rates of effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 infections in clinical trials, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the federal government is gearing up for a potential rollout in early 2021.
“It’s not simply enough to have a vaccine discovered, not simply enough to have doses of the vaccines secured… We have to get them into people,” Trudeau said on Nov. 9.
In total, the federal government has allocated $1 billion to go towards vaccine procurement, and to-date has secured access to as many as 414 million doses of vaccine candidates from several producers: Medicago, AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, Pfizer and Moderna.
HOW FAR FROM CANADIAN APPROVAL?
So far, no COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized safe for use in Canada. Health Canada will need to evaluate each candidate before it can be administered to Canadians.
“We need to see the data from the phase three trials,” said Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization in an interview on CTV’s Power Play.
“We’re working in parallel to make sure that things move swiftly… so that when it gets approved, our recommendations will be almost ready so that we can start deployment,” she said.
As for how long it could take for Health Canada to approve a vaccine once the data is submitted, Dr. Quach-Thanh said that it depends on how robust the manufacturers’ submissions are. If there are holes, or questions outstanding for regulators, it could take some back and forth she said.
Quach-Thanh also noted that unlike the U.S., Canada does have a form of emergency use authorization to speed things up.
“I think it’s okay because then you know we’re sure that the data has been looked at carefully in terms of efficacy and safety, we don’t want anybody to be shortchanged,” she said.
FOUR-PRONGED PLAN, DETAILS SPARSE
To date, publicly available details around the plan to administer vaccines have been minimal. A number of the vaccine candidates being tested require two doses and must be stored at very cold temperatures, for example.
Last week, Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand called Health Canada’s approval of an eventual vaccine or vaccines a “moving target” and said it was just one part of their four-pronged approach to vaccine deployment.
Anand said on Nov. 9 alongside Trudeau that preparations have been underway for months and that in terms of the involvement of the military, “all options are indeed on the table.”
“We are working always with the provinces and the territories to ensure a seamless distribution system is established,” Anand said at the time. “We are going to establish in a very complex environment an efficient and effective distribution system for these vaccines once they are approved.”
In addition to the needed regulatory approval, Canada needs to figure out how to biomanufacture elements of the vaccine, how to distribute those millions of vials, and how to oversee the on-the-ground administration of the vaccine.
In terms of biomanufacturing, Anand said that contracts have been signed to set up what are called “fill and finish” machines to mass-produce doses in Canada.
In terms of distribution, the contract tender for a national shipping plan has been issued and already 70 companies. including major cargo and airline brands. have expressed interest in playing a role. Part of the government’s criteria is to have the ability for cold storage to preserve the millions of doses coming our way, and the ability to deliver to all regions in Canada.
As for the administration of the vaccine, the government is procuring millions of syringes, vials, needles, alcohol swabs, gauze, and containers for discarded needles that will all be essential.
If the vaccine is a two-dose process, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has recently spoken about the need for some form of computer system to keep track who has been vaccinated and whether they’ve received both doses.
PRIORITIZATION AND GAPS
It’s expected that once a vaccine or vaccines are ready to be administered to Canadians, the initial supplies will be rationed and given to the highest-risk populations, such as seniors as well as health-care and essential workers.
According to the preliminary guidance issued by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, prioritization will be based on three factors: the state of the pandemic when the vaccine is available; the supply available and number of doses required; and the risk-benefit analysis of key populations such as those who are at higher risk for adverse outcomes if they contract the novel coronavirus.
During Monday’s committee meeting, Canadian Armed Forces Surgeon Gen. Marc Bilodeau told MPs that “discussion is ongoing” as to where members of the military would fall in the order of precedence for getting immunized for COVID-19, and whether it will be mandatory for the military to be vaccinated.
As well, Quach-Thanh noted on Monday that not all sectors of the population will be able to access initial vaccines due to the lack of research into the potential impacts on them, such as children and people who are pregnant.
“It’s not that the vaccine is not made for children, it’s just that children have not been recruited in any of the trials and so we have no data on children, which is a little bit normal. When we study new drugs or new medication we always start with adults and when it’s safe and efficacious and adult then we go down to children just because that’s how it’s done. Same thing for pregnancy,” Quach-Thanh said.
She said it’s possible that Canada could be waiting between approved vaccines to have access to enough doses to give to everyone who wants to be vaccinated. That would be the case if the government is not able to secure additional doses of what would be a hotly in-demand effective vaccine.
“But, as we’re speaking, you know we’re expecting that it’s going to be rolled out over the next year or so, before everybody in Canada is vaccinated,” she said.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
