The senior Health Canada official who approved which COVID vaccines Canadians could take is admitting their surveillance of 'adverse events' — caused by the jab — fell short. 

"We expect a lot of underreporting," said Dr. Celia Lourenco, acting associate assistant deputy minister with Health Canada.

On July 13, Lourenco told the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board that she approved the COVID vaccines currently on the market in her previous role.

A Health Canada senior executive responsible for authorizing and prioritizing novel COVID injections over repurposed drugs is facing scrutiny over her competency at a labour board tribunal.

FULL REPORT by @TamaraUgo: https://t.co/iVB91sxhLS

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) July 20, 2023

She testified at the hearing to discuss whether unvaccinated workers were fired and denied employment insurance benefits for not complying with vaccine mandates in the workplace.

Parliament imposed a vaccine mandate on the public service and federally regulated sectors in October 2021 and abandoned it last June.

Carrie Sakamoto, a Lethbridge mother of three, is suffering from permanent Bell's Palsy after being told in government & state broadcaster messaging that she was doing the "right thing" by following constant recommendations to receive a COVID vaccination.https://t.co/gRojPpAkLS

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 3, 2023

Lourenco ascertains that underreporting adverse effects caused by COVID vaccines is a "well-known fact" because healthcare providers and patients may not report or even be aware of the events.

"It doesn't get reported to the regulator, so that's a common problem [across the globe]."

According to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) learned of less than 1% of adverse events caused by the COVID jab.

"Did Health Canada ever do a study to evaluate what would be the underreporting factor?" asked litigator Bernard Desgagné. Lourenco did not answer directly.

Degagné claimed this degree of underreporting could have caused millions of deaths south of the border.

According to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the U.S. has reported 21,000 deaths caused by the COVID jab as of July 7. 

In June, the CDC told The Epoch Times they identified nine deaths where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine "caused or contributed to the deaths."

As of May 26, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) received 442 reports with an outcome of death after receiving a COVID jab. They identified only four cases with a causal link to the vaccine.

For context, one report counts for one person who may have reported multiple adverse events to their doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. 

Health Canada received reports of 55,145 adverse events out of 98,194,601 administered doses, or 0.056%. Of those, they reported 10,906 as serious events (0.011%), while the remainder included "temporary rashes, fatigue, vaccination site pain and headache."

Drea Humphrey brings you an update on a Maple Ridge, B.C. woman named Franci DuPerron’s battle to finally receive compensation from Canada’s Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP).

Visit Rebel News for more on this story by @DreaHumphrey: https://t.co/BNY57IfuwD

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 30, 2022

A health department spokesperson told the publication that "most pre-pandemic studies about this topic estimate adverse drug reactions under-reporting rates of 90% or higher."

They said reporting is "fundamental" for drug safety surveillance, but underreporting occurs in voluntary and mandatory reporting systems.

The spokesperson could not estimate the degree of underreporting adverse events following vaccination, adding that milder events are less reported.

As of writing, the federal government has paid nearly $6.7 million in damages to Canadians caused by COVID vaccine injuries.

According to statistics released by Canada's Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP), they paid successful applicants with "serious and permanent injury" from COVID vaccines $6,695,716 in damages. 

Halfway through 2023, the federal government has paid nearly $6.7 million in damages to Canadians caused by COVID vaccine injuries.https://t.co/7Hx4ivFz3c

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 8, 2023

Serious adverse events include deaths and situations that are life-threatening or require hospitalization.

It remains unclear how much individual claimants received in compensation.

VISP began accepting claims in June 2021 after Parliament announced the program in December 2020. A doctor applies on behalf of a claimant, and then a VISP doctor reviews it and requests further medical records as required. 

After all of the information is compiled, a panel of doctors determines if it is "probable" that the vaccine caused the specified injury and the financial payout. Compensation is only available for vaccines authorized on or after December 8, 2020.

The feds said the average time to assess a VISP claim is 12 to 18 months.

From June 1, 2021, to June 1, 2023, a panel of doctors involved in assessing the admissibility of 1,859 total claims found 1,553 claims admissible for compensation by the program.

As of November 2022, Canada administered 93 million COVID doses to residents.