Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It gets back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about H1N1 and the ingredients that are contained in that vaccine, Arepanrix. I would like to ask the Minister, before our residents are vaccinated with this vaccine, are they going to be fully made aware of all the ingredients of that vaccine? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for the question. Just before the House today I took the opportunity to go to the flu clinic at the multiplex and I was pleasantly surprised that there was actually a line-up of people before the clinic opened. Once I got there, the room was full of residents who were taking on this offer to vaccinate. I was joined by the chief public health officer, Dr. Kandola, and she brought her child, as well as the president of the Medical Association and Mr. Dolynny, the pharmacist. My point being that I think these are people who have a lot of knowledge about this vaccine and they have studied that.
In fact, last week I remember talking to Dr. Kandola. They just got a study/clinical results on children on the impact of the vaccine on the children. These scientific results show that this vaccine showed more positive effects on younger children than even the GSK had originally thought. Mr. Speaker, Public Health Canada recommends this vaccine and, yes, when the residents go to get their vaccines, there are staff there to answer any questions they may have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again, that is a nice story. I am glad people are getting their shot, but the question I had for the Minister was: at the multiplex today were there product information leaflets available to the public who are getting their shot that clearly indicates every ingredient in that vaccine, Mr. Speaker? By the sounds of it, people have to ask what is in it. I don’t think that is appropriate. I think that we should be providing the public with that type of information. I would like to ask the Minister, if that isn’t the case, if she could provide that level of information to our residents. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I could assure the Member and perhaps I think anybody could go to the clinic there. I want to tell the House that the staff and the public health officer have been working really hard to answer any questions any residents have. I am aware that people have been calling about the ingredients. I know those questions are being answered. When a resident walks into the clinic, there is lots of staff there. There are nurses, doctors, anybody at the door and people are greeted and they are made to feel at ease. This is happening right now at the multiplex.
I understand the Member’s concern. I think it is very important. At the end of the day, a decision as to whether they are going to take this vaccine or not is a personal decision. A lot of parents and everybody has to make that decision. I was happy to see that a lot of the people were there and taking the vaccine. I want to assure the Member that there are lots of health care professionals there answering any question that any resident may have about this vaccine and the vaccination program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, of course, people can ask questions. I think the Minister knows full well what I am saying. I would like to see a piece of paper there that clearly identifies what is in this vaccine, because on the Department of Health’s website, you can’t find exactly what the ingredients are in that vaccine. I had to go to Health Canada and I had to dig it out myself. Again, that is a product information leaflet on Arepanrix, if anybody is interested in finding that.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to also ask the Minister, given the possibility, then, that there are side effects with the vaccination, is there a waiver that people have to sign or is there any legal recourse if somebody should have a serious adverse side effect to the vaccination? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there is no waiver for anyone to sign, and nobody has to take this vaccine unless there are questions that are answered. Mr. Speaker, I do have the ingredients in front of me. It says, split influenza virus, inactivated, containing antigen equivalent to 3.75 micrograms haemagglutinin/dose, Antigen A/California, Excipients: Thimerosal, 2.6 mcg mercury/dose; sodium chloride, disodium hydrogen phosphate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium. Mr. Speaker, my point being, if somebody was there to read this label, would that help people to decide whether they should take this? My point being, we have people who are trained to understand this, people who are concerned about public health issues. It is better for doctors and nurses and public health officers to explain, okay, what is in here, what does it do, what kind of side effects could it have, what kind of impact could it have on my child, what kind of studies did you do, what is it supposed to do, and then have people explain in normal language that we could all understand what this is. Then it is up to the people to decide whether they want to take it for their child or their family. I took my mother there. Dr. Kandola had her 18-month-old baby there. She had him vaccinated. So we are doing everything we can to assure the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister forgot to say one of the ingredients on the list and that was formaldehyde. I would like to add that for her.
The other question I have, Mr. Speaker, on the Department of Health’s H1N1 flu site, it says at the end: “MYTH: because H1N1 vaccine is new, it is untested and unsafe. FACT:” -- and at the end of that statement it says -- “and no safety concerns have been found.” The reason, Mr. Speaker, I bring this up is because it is confusing for people out there when they do go to the Health Canada website and they see some of what are the side effects: very common; common; uncommon and rare; and the rare, one in a thousand; or very rare, one in 10,000.
So let’s just look at the very rare, one in 10,000. If we inject 40,000 in our Territory with this, chances are four of them are going to come up with a neurological disorder. That is the kind of information that I think has to get out there and people have to see that, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister, how come this isn’t available for people at the vaccination centres? Thank you.
I think it is important. This is a very serious public health issue. All of the experts are doing everything they can to get the information out. We should be very careful about not creating fear. I think what we want to do is to get the information out.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say, as the Minister of Health, that all vaccinations in Canada are subject to a very strict authorization process. They have a very high standard. The vaccine that is being used in Canada is not what is being used in the States. Not only is it a different vaccine, it is a different type of vaccine and it is manufactured by different people. They are having clinical trials done in European countries. The reason why the implementation of this vaccine was delayed and was so bad, we would have enough time to get tested and the tests have shown and all of the public health officers have reviewed it. Dr. Butler-Jones was in Yellowknife announcing it on Friday and they are recommending that the risks associated with this vaccine are so small compared to the sickness and serious hospitalization that would be required by our residents, it is especially important for our small communities and isolated areas to take this vaccine, because benefits far outweigh any risks that might come out from this vaccine. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
