Foreign Affairs committee  When we work with COVAX, as I mentioned, we're one of only four countries to ensure that we pay the full ancillary costs for any donated doses. Kudos to Ireland and a couple of other countries for being partners with us in this, but the intent is that when we donate to COVAX, we can't then create an additional financial burden on COVAX or the others.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. Chair, you'll have to cut me off because I could speak all day about this. The ACT accelerator covers all four of those pillars because they're essential. That 70% immunization level, if we reach it, still means that there will be 30% who are not vaccinated. They will rely on “test and treat” strategies, much as we are increasingly doing in North America, given the continued transmission of vaccines.

Foreign Affairs committee  The needle moves around a little bit as new contributions come in, but we are a top donor. That is sometimes first, but sometimes we bump down to second or third and then we bring in additional investments. The international system and developing country partners are very well aware of Canada's leadership in providing access to not just vaccines, but also to health systems support, diagnostic support and access to therapies.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would point to two elements in particular that are significant. South Africa is already a regional leader in vaccine production. They have outstanding manufacturing capacity and have been working on producing generic vaccines, but there has been no mRNA vaccine production capacity in sub-Saharan Africa or in Africa more generally.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's all publicly available on COVAX's website but also on UNICEF's, which has a very good interactive dashboard through which you can click on a country to see when shipments from COVAX came into the country, and of course it summarizes it at higher levels, as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  These are relatively complicated policy discussions that we've had among G7 countries, and now among DAC countries, as part of the OECD, with COVAX. We've tried to provide the best estimate of an average cost. We're not privy to the specific cost paid per dose by COVAX, but we're trying to find a fair representation that would appropriately reflect, in a transparent way, the cost of procurement of the doses that COVAX has done.

Foreign Affairs committee  Unfortunately, no, but in terms of the valuation, it was important to find a solution that worked for all of us so that at least some simplicity and coherence were brought into the mechanism. It's related not to Canada's purchase price but rather to the equivalent that COVAX is needing to allocate per dose.

Foreign Affairs committee  What makes COVAX special is that it's a pooled procurement mechanism. It takes the demand from, say, 92 developing countries and is able to negotiate better prices and access as a result of that, and then it “bulk procures” doses to then allocate to its members.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. They're part of a window called the advance market commitment, which is specifically for low-income and low-middle-income countries, the ones that need the most international support.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, it's the members of participating economies, the AMC 92. They're primarily the ones to whom those doses are being allocated.

Foreign Affairs committee  We do sit and actively participate in many tables, but the allocation framework is at arm's length from donors, so it is entirely needs-based and ensures equity. That's run by the WHO with scientific experts and clear algorithms that countries understand. So, no, we do not influence the allocation of COVAX's doses to their member countries because that's a science- and needs-based decision that's run by that arm's-length committee.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's right. We understand the parameters. We helped to negotiate and put them in place for this mechanism. We were a key leader of it from the beginning, so we accept how well the methodology works in terms of allocating the vaccines.

Foreign Affairs committee  When we're dealing with in-kind doses, doses that are surplus to Canadian requirements, those are deemed surplus by the Minister of Health of Canada. Then the Minister of International Development delegates to us the delivery of those doses through COVAX to wherever the fair allocation framework that COVAX manages indicates.

Foreign Affairs committee  We speak regularly with the people at COVAX. I mean daily, not just weekly. That is also true for partner countries where we would like to see an increase in vaccination coverage and the use of doses. We take that challenge seriously. We have assured the people at COVAX that we are prepared to take on a larger role to address these issues on a regional and international basis in the coming months.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I'd be happy to. Thank you. To date, all the supports we have provided to COVAX in terms of financial support, as well as the support provided more broadly to the ACT accelerator for tests, treatments and health systems, have been additional to Canada's regular ODA budget.