I think as I go on, with all due respect, you'll see where we're leading to with this.
As I was saying,
A vaccine procurement team, led by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), was assembled in early July 2020 to initiate negotiations with vaccine suppliers.
Canada built its vaccine portfolio through APAs with 7 companies. The first 2 agreements, with Moderna and Pfizer, were announced in August 2020, followed by similar agreements with Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Medicago. None of the portfolio vaccines had a Canadian-based manufacturing capability at the time.
In most cases, initial agreements were signed through memorandums of understanding and term sheets with international sources to secure access to an early vaccine supply for Canada, while providing time for the regulatory process and to work through complex terms and conditions with the manufacturers.
The APAs have the obligations of a contract, while being structured to allow flexibility given uncertainties around the development of new vaccines. Essentially, they allow[ed] for the purchase of something that [didn't] yet exist.
When these agreements were signed, it was not known which vaccine candidates would go on to receive Health Canada authorization, and if so, when that would be. As well, production capacity and supply chains were still being developed. All of these unknowns meant that it was impossible to establish detailed delivery schedules. Instead, the agreements include[d] quarterly delivery targets.
Each company had its own negotiating strategy and different demands and pricing per dose depending on the investments made in research, manufacturing and supply logistics, which added to the complexity of landing agreements. As a common element, all agreements required initial investments with the vaccine manufacturers to support vaccine development, testing and at-risk manufacturing.
While waiting for the authorization of vaccines, Canada began to put in place contracts for the logistics, storage and distribution networks that would be needed once the vaccines were authorized and ready for distribution.
Canada has consistently sought ways to secure quicker deliveries of approved vaccines. Once vaccines were authorized for use in Canada, the Government of Canada worked closely with suppliers to accelerate deliveries and to ensure that a steady stream of vaccines was arriving in the country as quickly as possible.
Doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Moderna’s Spikevax, AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria and Johnson & Johnson, the first 4 vaccines authorized by Health Canada, [arrived] in the country since December 2020, allowing provinces and territories to carry out their COVID-19 vaccination programs.