COVID-19: Canada Responds
PM Trudeau and Ministers Discuss Logistics of AstraZeneca Vaccine Distribution
On Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses the federal government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. He is joined virtually by federal ministers Patty Hajdu (health), Anita Anand (public services and procurement), and Dominic LeBlanc (intergovernmental affairs), as well as Major-General Dany Fortin (vice president of logistics and operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada), Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, and Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer. They discuss Health Canada’s authorization of the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the Serum Institute of India's version of the same vaccine. These are the third and fourth vaccines to be approved for use in Canada. The prime minister also faces questions about the government's handling of misconduct allegations in the Canadian Armed Forces. He is also asked about the Liberal cabinet's decision to abstain from voting on a motion to formally recognize China’s treatment of its Uyghur population and other Turkic Muslims as a genocide. (February 26, 2021)