Western Canada: Manitoba signs deal to purchase vaccines directly amid frustrations over federal delays

Good morning. It’s James Keller in Calgary.

As delays in the federal vaccine program began piling up in the new year, several premiers across the country floated the possibility of side-stepping Ottawa and signing their own deals with suppliers. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was the most vocal, telling reporters a month ago that he instructed bureaucrats to explore the province’s options.

At the time, Mr. Kenney said one challenge would be getting around exclusivity clauses in the federal government’s contracts with drug makers such as Pfizer and Moderna. Provinces would need to find suppliers other than the seven companies that Ottawa has already signed with. That is a significant constraint on provinces looking for their own supplies, as they would be limited to companies that are much earlier in the testing and approval process.

Manitoba beat Alberta to the punch, announcing an agreement last week to purchase two million doses from Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics. The company has started Phase 1 trials on its mRNA vaccine, which would be the first Canadian-developed and -manufactured vaccine if it is eventually approved.

Premier Brian Pallister said the province has “learned the hard way” that it can’t rely on just one source – the federal government – for its vaccine supply, especially when those vaccines are being imported.

The province signed a term sheet that would guarantee Manitoba the first 200,000 doses from Providence’s first batch of vaccines and ensures the province will get the lowest price offered to other buyers.

But vaccines from Providence are months away and likely wouldn’t arrive until the end of this year or early 2022 – well after Ottawa’s target of giving shots to every Canadian who wants them by September. Mr. Pallister said the purchase agreement is “insurance” in case the federal government is unable to meet that target.

Other premiers have since said they are looking at the possibility. Mr. Kenney in Alberta said his government has also been talking to Providence Therapeutics and is still considering pursuing its own deal. He also echoed Mr. Pallister’s comments that the federal supply appears to be unpredictable.

“Alberta and other provinces are not satisficed with the assurances we’ve been given by the government of Canada, so we are working together on a Plan B,” he said this week.

He said provinces will also need vaccines beyond this year if COVID-19 vaccines are needed on a regular basis or if variants emerge that require new versions.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he, too, is looking at Providence as a potential option.

In B.C., Health Minister Adrian Dix said his government also plans to meet with Providence to talk about potential vaccine supply, but he also said the government’s priority right now is to ensure vaccines that are on the way are administered quickly. “But we also have to prepare for the future and we’re interested in what Manitoba has done.”

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said his province will follow the lead of the federal government on vaccines.

Providence Therapeutics CEO Brad Sorenson has been critical of the federal government for not doing more to support his company’s vaccine efforts, writing an open letter to the Prime Minister that argued the company could be a critical part of building a domestic vaccine supply in Canada and offering the government discounted prices and priority access.

He said provincial governments clearly took notice, including Manitoba, which reached out.

“We were trying, and not in a covert way, to engage the federal government. ... Premier Pallister obviously took note of this, and he reached out to us and indicated he was interested in working with us,” Mr. Sorenson told me.

“My first question was, ‘Can you?’ And he said they could, that they didn’t have the ability to import vaccines from outside of Canada, but they did have the ability to purchase domestically.”

Mr. Sorenson said he has been talking to other premiers, though he declined to offer details. He said Mr. Pallister was right to line up “insurance” to ensure the province has a backup supply, and he added that Manitoba’s contract includes a provision for the company to help line up other buyers if the province doesn’t need them.

He said the company hopes to have the orders for its first production run, which will begin this year even before Health Canada approval, lined up by the end of next week. That would include any other provinces that want to sign on and want to be part of the first run in 2021.

“I believe that when [other premiers] look at it, they will come to the same conclusion that Premier Pallister came to, that this makes sense.”

When asked about the Manitoba news, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would only say that the federal government has purchased enough vaccines to immunize everyone in Canada who wants a shot – including the entire population of Manitoba – by September.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here. This is a new project and we’ll be experimenting as we go, so let us know what you think.