Despite promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates on the horizon worldwide, experts say Canada needs to overcome major hurdles before it can develop rollout strategies to get the right shot into Canadians’ arms.
News that Pfizer’s vaccine candidate has shown promising preliminary results in Phase 3 clinical trials made headlines this week, but specific data on which patients benefited from the trial, which could inform rollout plans, has yet to be released.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country needs “a very sophisticated” rollout plan that will require “high degrees of logistical support.”
But determining who should get a vaccine first is extremely challenging without specific data on who it would help most.
“The rollout is going to be the most difficult part of this vaccine and that’s the part I think everyone is starting to think of today,” Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases specialist at St Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, told CBC’s The National.
“If the vaccine data shows that the highest risk populations also have the highest reasonable benefit here, I think that prioritization scheme works very well and hopefully that’s the target for the first 10 million doses.”
WATCH | Pfizer’s vaccine raises questions with medical experts:
Pfizer says initial data suggests its COVID-19 vaccine is 90 per cent effective. Medical experts call it encouraging, but have a lot of questions. 2:05
But who is most at risk of severe illness and transmission of COVID-19 is still in question, meaning Canada might need to develop several contingency plans.
“If we decide to start with health-care workers, it’s going to be a completely different strategy than if we start by vaccinating the elderly in long-term care facilities,” Dr. Caroline Quach, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), said on The Currenton Tuesday.
“So it’s difficult currently for provinces and territories to have a good idea and a good understanding of how they need to deploy.”
The federal government has reportedly secured enough syringes and needles for provinces and territories to vaccinate all Canadians who wish to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but Quach says the specific plans are still unclear.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement to CBC News the federal government is working with provinces and territories to approve and distribute a vaccine as quickly as possible.
Dr. Caroline Quach says a lack of key data makes it difficult for provinces and territories to have a good understanding of how they need to deploy a potential vaccine. (CBC)
“It is anticipated that in the early stages of rollout, supply availability will be limited,” a spokesperson said.
“The quantity and schedule of availability of vaccines will be the subject of ongoing discussion with provinces and territories to manage expectations and plans for delivery.”
The NACI has released preliminary recommendations that prioritize the elderly and others at severe risk of illness: health-care workers, front-line staff and those with lower access to health care including Indigenous populations.
But to know who should be first in line, the NACI and government officials need to know who fell ill in the vaccinated group compared with the placebo group during clinical trials.
Without answers, governments across Canada will need to hedge their bets.
“They may have to work on two to three plans in parallel,” Quach said. “Just in case one of those will be picked as the first strategy.”
Logistical challenges
How to deploy a vaccine across the country, especially to remote communities such as First Nations, is also a key consideration.
Pfizer’s vaccine candidate needs to be stored at –70 C to –80 C, but commercial refrigerators typically go down to –15 C at the most.
Given that strict temperature requirement, Chaga suspects that Pfizer’s vaccine would be distributed much differently than a typical vaccine.
“We’re probably going to have centralized hubs and teams going out from those hubs to do mass immunization campaigns,” he said. “Rather than what we’re seeing with the flu vaccine with pharmacies and physician offices involved with distribution.”
But Quach says unlike influenza vaccines, there may not actually be enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines to make a significant impact — especially early on.
“We don’t have enough vaccines to vaccinate all Canadians,” she said, adding that COVID-19 vaccines could be distributed over the next 12 to 18 months. “The rollout will be slow.”
Alyson Kelvin says she’s discouraged by the fact that Canada has not released preliminary plans for the rollout of a potential vaccine. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)
Lack of plan concerning
Alyson Kelvin, an assistant professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax and virologist at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology, says she is eager to see a vaccine rollout plan for Canada.
“We need a good strategy to get that out, we need a strategy to get it to our front-line health-care workers, the people who keep our daily lives running, the grocery store workers, as well as we also need to start thinking about the under-served communities.”
“Just because we have a vaccine doesn’t mean we’re done. We need to think through how we’re going to get this into people’s arms and who should get it first,” she said. “This is going to be a huge undertaking … it concerns me that I haven’t seen a plan.”
Quach says, unlike the U.S.’s minimum requirement of 50 per cent efficacy for a COVID-19 vaccine, Health Canada has not set a bar for approving a vaccine.
“Being close to our neighbour, we are a little bit stuck with what they are going to decide,” Quach said.
Kelvin said the NACI recommendations were a good start, but were not released in a way that’s easy for average Canadians to understand. It’s also not yet clear whether the federal, provincial and territorial governments will follow those guidelines.
“Information will have to be easily accessible to the public, policy makers and stakeholders for the more effective use of a vaccine when it becomes available,” she said.
“Pharmacists and nurses or those approved to vaccinate the public will need accurate information about the vaccine being given and the rollout plan as it is put in place.”
WATCH | Canada preparing for vaccine rollout:
The federal government has taken a very aggressive vaccine buying approach and has already bought millions of doses of Pfizer’s vaccine with the hope it works. And governments are already planning how to distribute vaccines when they’re available, including who will go first. 1:47
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
