Certainly. Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I'll provide a few remarks and then turn to my colleague Paul Thompson and, if time permits, Dr. Tam.
Yesterday, essentially three elements of our plan to support access by Canadians to Pfizer Paxlovid antiviral were announced. First there was the regulatory decision made by Health Canada after receiving the submission on December 1. The team worked through the holidays and around the clock to complete that review, working with other international regulators and collaborators. The second was the announcement that treatment courses for Paxlovid are in the country. They were pre-positioned to allow for rapid deployment to the provinces and territories. Paul Thompson can speak to this, building on the procurement agreement signed for a million treatment courses of Paxlovid that was announced back in the late fall. Third—and Dr. Tam can speak to this—is work done by the Public Health Agency of Canada, working with experts and in collaboration with the provinces and territories to provide guidance on the use of Paxlovid, recognizing the importance of coordinating for testing and ensuring that priority populations have it.
Mr. Chair, I'll pass it to Paul Thompson to speak further to the procurement agreements.