Canada’s experimental Ebola vaccine isn’t yet on the move to West Africa, Dr. Gregory Taylor, the country’s new public health officer says.
The role of the chief public health officer includes delivering pubic health information to Canadians, such as advice about the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Canada announced an offer of 8,00 to 10,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg six weeks ago. But delivery has been hampered by the need to keep the vaccine cold during transport and parse up the bulk supply into doses.
As Canada’s new chief public health officer, Dr. Gregory Taylor is the face of the country’s response to disease outbreaks such as the Ebola virus. (Public Health Agency of Canada)
Taylor takes over from Dr. David Butler-Jones, one of the public health faces of Canada’s SARS outbreak in 2003.
Butler-Jones, a top HIV researcher, stepped down in March. He suffered a stroke in 2012.
Taylor become the country’s deputy chief public health officer in 2012.
He obtained his medical degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax and completed a residency in family medicine, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Taylor’s been involved in a range of federal chronic disease activities, the agency said.
