Trudeau's health minister says pandemic could go on for 'years'

Trudeau's Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has said that pandemic-related precautions may go on "months, possibly even years."

The health minister made these comments in response to a question about whether the Trudeau government will redefine "fully-vaccinated" for only those who have had a booster shot, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

Previously, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that vaccines would spell the end of the pandemic. "Normality, as it was before, could not return until there is a vaccine and it could be in a year, a year and a half," said Trudeau.

Over 75 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinated from COVID-19.

"There will always be, unfortunately, people who will be infected with COVID and some of them will have severe symptoms," said Duclos.

"It’s a lot better to avoid these people having to go to a hospital for all sorts of personal and public health reasons," he added.

The Health Minister went on to say that he has placed extensive orders for coronavirus-related treatments. He has placed orders, for instance, with Merck and Pfizer for a million doses of oral antiviral treatments.

The cost of this has yet to be disclosed to the general public. The minister said this was "a very significant step in further enhancing the tools, what we can use over the next months, possibly even years, in order to protect both people and the health care system."