Government Operations committee  There are two points there, Mr. Chair. I can't speak to need in the U.S. for AstraZeneca. The fact is that the vaccine is not yet approved for use in the U.S. by their regulatory authority, and yet there's manufacturing taking place there. Working with AstraZeneca and the U.S. government, we were able to effectively get an exchange of doses to bring forward 1.5 million doses because Canada has a contract with AstraZeneca.

Government Operations committee  There are two points here, Mr. Chair. I won't get into specifics about what's in the contracts, but the government has announced a no-fault compensation regime related to vaccines and any health outcomes as a result, so that kind of speaks to where the liability sits.

Government Operations committee  Thank you for the question. I could give you a more detailed answer in writing. However, I can tell you that we have awarded a contract to Deloitte for systems enhancements as a result of a competitive process, as the member has indicated. I'm not sure it's possible. My colleagues, Michael and Arianne, have an update on how that project is going, but I don't have one.

Government Operations committee  Once again, I can't answer that question. The Public Health Agency of Canada officials would be better able to answer that.

Government Operations committee  I don't know. I can provide an answer after the meeting. To get back to the member's earlier question around the useful life of syringes and how many we have, they have a long, useful life. It's up to five years. The inventory we're buying is indeed good for an extended period of time, so there's not a fear of stockpiling on that front.

Government Operations committee  I guess there are two points here, Mr. Chair. Number one, when the contract is signed, the primary relationship becomes between the successful bidder and the client department, so in this case, Deloitte would be working with the Public Health Agency and Health Canada on that assignment.

Government Operations committee  It's a milestone-based approach, Mr. Chair, in which there are a number of milestones and enhancements.

Government Operations committee  I think largely on initial milestones—and it's early days here still—they are more or less on schedule. It's a performing contract. That's the way I would describe it at this stage.

Government Operations committee  Absolutely correct, Mr. Chair. It is based on the number of doses delivered, and those doses are counted based on the regulatory approval given by Health Canada. Indeed, there was a change in terms of Pfizer, and that change was made on a go-forward basis only.

Government Operations committee  Yes, Mr. Chair. I'm a little out of my depth here, but the company would have to apply for that type of regulatory change and the Health Canada regulator would then make an assessment and take a decision, both in terms of yes or no, and then when the effective date would be.

Government Operations committee  I will turn to my colleagues here, Arianne and Michael, in a moment, but I think those negotiations or discussions started in advance, but not too far in advance, and one of the things we wanted to do, just as with the vaccine portfolio itself, was to get some diversification, because these syringes were obviously in high demand across the globe, so you didn't want to be reliant on just one supplier.

Government Operations committee  That's correct. They were all signed before clinical trials had wrapped up. The contract is a product of months of discussion in some cases, and there are many steps along the way. The process was different for each supplier, but they were indeed concluded before clinical trials had finished.

Government Operations committee  There are a number of things, but first and foremost it's an ongoing dialogue with the vaccine providers, because it's a discussion in terms of what each party is comfortable in making public. I include the government in that. As I mentioned earlier, we don't want anything made public that would compromise ongoing negotiations with these suppliers.

Government Operations committee  There are a couple of points to make here. I think I would distinguish between targets and “delays here and there”. Targets we very much talk about quarterly. With regard to delays, we have seen delays of a few days come through with Moderna shipments, and that certainly doesn't impact a quarterly target, but what's important for provinces here is that they have a sense of what's coming in the next six to eight weeks so they can properly plan.

Government Operations committee  There are two points here, Mr. Chair. Number one, in terms of the processes to determine where they go and when, that's more for other ministries to weigh in on—