Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On October 23, 2020, the federal government announced funding to a biopharmaceutical company, Medicago, based in the city of Quebec for a vaccine manufacturing facility in that city. The federal government has also recently announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Novavax to pursue options to produce its COVID-19 vaccine at the National Research Council of Canada's Biologics Manufacturing Centre, once both the vaccine candidate and the facility have received the required Health Canada approvals. It was reported on February 14, 2021, that the federal government would meet soon with provincial governments to discuss collaboration on building up domestic biomanufacturing capacity.
To whoever is appropriate, in your opinion how much will these initiatives contribute to Canada's vaccine supply and how long will it take to establish?