By Tony Dean

Ontario public health officials are reportedly furious with Health Canada over a sudden about-face on the safety of the FluAd and Agriflu influenza drugs produced by Novartis.

The federal government’s questionable track record on regulation, most recently in relation to XL meats in Alberta, probably played a part in this.

It has all the hallmarks of a last-minute intervention from a political office.

The story started on Oct. 24 when Italy announced that it was halting use of vaccines produced by Novartis in view of reports that small clumps of material were observed in some of the vaccines. Germany and France pulled the same vaccines the following day.

On the same day, Health Canada was reassuring provinces that the vaccine was safe and that it was business-as-usual across the country. QP Briefing has learned that Ottawa even shipped key communications messages to the provinces and territories to help in getting a consistent message out.

With those assurances, provincial public health officials and issues managers stepped down from high alert.

But that all changed late last Friday when Health Canada surprised its provincial counterparts with a late-day decision to halt the distribution of the vaccine.

On Monday, Ontario suspended the use of the Novartis vaccines but also reinforced the continuation of its vaccination campaign, given that the two suspended drugs represented only 18 per cent of the province's supply of flu vaccines.

One national newspaper’s take on this was that Health Canada acted quickly and decisively in contrast to Ontario and Quebec, which were singled out as examples of patchy provincial responses.

The rise in temperature on the part of Ontario public health officials is understandable, particularly after Health Canada green-lighted the continued use of Novartis flu vaccines on Wednesday, declaring that they are safe to use.

In view of the flip-flops on Ottawa over the past week, two points must be made:

First, confusion all around undermines the already tough job of building public commitment and confidence in immunization.

Second, we don't know whether there was political direction in Ottawa on this file. But as a general rule there is no place for political second guessing of science-based decisions affecting the day-to-day delivery of important public health programs.

Tony Dean is a former Secretary of the Cabinet and head of the Ontario Public Service. He is currently a professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance and continues to advise governments on public policy.

Tony Dean: A botched operation

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