Question Period Note: Rapid COVID-19 testing

COVID-19 testing technologies have advanced quickly. On behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada continues to explore additional agreements to secure access to rapid tests.

• The health and safety of Canadians is our number one priority
  • Since March 2020, we have procured a total of 45,574,950 rapid tests, of which 10,124,970 are tests and 35,449,980 are Antigen tests
  • The Government of Canada has received a total of 41,958,338 rapid tests to date
  • Since March 2020, we have awarded more than 100 contracts to support conventional laboratory testing across Canada. That includes swabs, equipment, reagents, consumables and plastics required to help provinces and territories meet the objective of conducting 200,000 tests per day nationally
  • As new tests and instruments become available, approved and are considered effective, we will continue to bring them online so health authorities have access to all available resources needed to get us through this pandemic
  • Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) published a Request for Standing Offer on March 16th for the purchase of additional PCR antigen rapid tests, which will stay open until December 2021 so that suppliers can submit an offer as soon as their test obtains approval from Health Canada
  • To date, PSPC has supported the distribution of more than 26.9 million rapid tests

If pressed on Dynacare:

• The government is committed to ensuring the health and safety of foreign workers entering the country as well as that of the Canadians who come into contact with them
• On April 26, we announced a new contract with Dynacare for dedicated testing support for temporary foreign workers arriving by air in Quebec
• Effective April 28, Dynacare is providing temporary foreign workers arriving in Quebec with dedicated support services in French, English and other languages, for appointment booking, test administration, results management, and follow up for subsequent tests

If pressed on the delivery of Abbott Panbio and ID Now tests:

• The Government of Canada has received a total of 22,895,450 Panbio antigen tests
• The Government of Canada has received a total of 6,424,128 ID NOW rapid tests and 3,800 analyzers

If pressed on the delivery of Becton Dickinson Veritor tests and analyzers:

• The Government of Canada has received a total of 11,599,980 Veritor antigen tests and 5,170 analyzers.

If pressed on the delivery of Quidel Sofia 2 Antigen tests and analyzers:

• The Government of Canada has received 850,000 Sofia 2 SARS antigen tests and 550 Sofia 2 instruments

If pressed on distribution:

• The Government of Canada continues to work with federal, provincial and territorial governments to assess ongoing needs for medical equipment and supplies
• The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working with provinces and territories to ensure that the devices are allocated so as to have the most impact based on existing and future COVID-19 hotspots in Canada
• PSPC is also supporting the distribution of rapid tests to companies in critical sectors. This includes assisting with order placement and providing warehousing and logistics services to store test kits and fulfil orders
• SCI, a subsidiary of Canada Post, is providing warehousing and inventory management. Day & Ross has been engaged to cover ground transportation for order fulfillment

If pressed on Spartan:

• We are grateful for all Canadian companies that have answered the Government of Canada’s call to action and continue to support our pandemic response
• While we recognize that not all emerging technologies and innovations ultimately succeed, PSPC remains committed to working with the company assuming they can fulfill their contractual obligations and address testing performance issues

If pressed on Switch Health:

• The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring travellers entering Canada have the support required to meet testing requirements during the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
• Switch Health Holdings Inc. to provide services of the mandatory COVID-19 testing of travellers entering Canada at four international airports Vancouver (YVR), Calgary (YYC), Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL)) and up to 114 land points of entry
• We are aware of the reports of delayed test results for travellers, and are working with Switch Health to ensure they have the required resources in place to meet their contractual obligations
• We are also working with the PHAC to bring other companies and capacity on board to support timely testing

If pressed on Shoppers Drug Mart:

• The rapid tests that Shoppers Drug Mart is using to offer for-fee testing services to individuals are not provided by the government, but rather purchased directly from the manufacturer by Shoppers Drug Mart
• The Government of Canada is providing rapid test kits to pharmacies to distribute to small to medium-sized organizations for workplace screening. These test kits are being provided free-of-charge, but pharmacies are permitted to charge up to $14 per kit of 25 tests to cover distribution and handling costs (as in, $0.56 per test)

Abbott Panbio antigen test

The Abbott Panbio COVID-19 antigen test is a rapid test that can detect SARS-CoV-2 directly from a nasopharyngeal or nasal swab in just over 15 minutes. It requires no instrumentation but must still be performed by a trained healthcare professional. This test is portable and lightweight and can easily be used in point of care in a variety of settings. The product does not require specialized storage temperatures.

As the procurement of more antigen tests is expected, we are not releasing the contract value at this time, in order to protect our negotiating position. In line with our commitment to transparency, the value of this agreement will be disclosed in due time.

On October 6, 2020, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement announced the purchase of up to 20.5 million Panbio COVID-19 Antigen rapid tests. The Panbio Antigen rapid test with nasopharyngeal swab, approved on October 5, 2020, was the first antigen test to be approved by Health Canada for use in Canada.

On November 20, an amendment was issued to procure an additional 2.5 million Panbio COVID-19 Antigen rapid tests.

The Panbio Antigen rapid test with nasal swab was approved by Health Canada on December 30, 2020.

In total, PSPC has purchased a total of up to 23 million Panbio tests to be delivered by March 31, 2021.

Becton-Dickinson Veritor antigen test

The BD Veritor SARS-CoV-2 antigen test is a rapid test that can detect SARS‑CoV-2 directly from a nasal swab in just over 15 minutes from patients that are within the first five days of the onset of symptoms. This testing requires a handheld analyzer and must be performed by a trained healthcare professional. This test is portable, lightweight and can easily be used in point of care in a variety of settings. It also does not require specialized storage temperatures.

On October 23, 2020, a contract was awarded to Becton Dickinson for the procurement of 7,599,990 Veritor antigen tests as well as 600 analyzers.

On January 29 and March 2, 2021, amendments were issued to procure an additional 4M tests and 4572 analyzers.

On March 3, 2021, Health Canada approved an amendment to the authorization of the BD Veritor test, extending the shelf-life of the test from 6 months to 12 months.

Abbott ID NOW point-of-care test

The Abbott ID NOW system is a rapid point-of-care test for COVID-19. The technology can detect the virus directly from a nasal swab, returning results in as little as 13 minutes. The testing device, or analyzer, is small and lightweight and can easily be transported to remote locations and operated with minimal training.

Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC is also supplying up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid tests.

Spartan point-of-care test

The Spartan test involves inserting a cartridge containing a swab from a patient’s mouth into a test analyzer (Cube) that analyzes DNA for the presence of the coronavirus. The technology can detect the virus in as little as 30 minutes. The testing device, or analyzer, is small and lightweight and can easily be transported to remote locations.

On March 25, 2020, PSPC issued a contract to Spartan Bioscience Inc. for the purchase of 1,020,000 tests and 100 testing platforms (Cubes).

On April 9, the original contract was amended to purchase an additional 900,000 tests and 600 testing platforms (Cubes).

Execution of this contract was conditional of Spartan obtaining Health Canada (HC) approval.

On October 29, HC issued an investigational testing authorization (ITA) to Spartan to conduct a clinical trial on their point-of-care test and generic swab, to obtain data to support its effectiveness. HC approval was pending results of this clinical trial.

On December 11, Spartan submitted the results of the clinical trials to HC.

On January 22, 2021, HC approved the Spartan COVID-19 System, a rapid, on-site molecular diagnostic test for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2.

On March 12, 2021, a contract amendment was issued to update the test requirement and the delivery schedule allowing Spartan to begin delivery.

On March 31, 2021, PSPC sent a Pre-Notice of Termination for Default letter to the company following concerns with inconclusive results and contractual obligations not being met. On April 14, 2021, Spartan provided detailed corrective measures and an implementation plan to address these issues. Further discussions between Spartan, PHAC/HC, ISED and PSPC are ongoing.

Delivery of the Spartan tests is currently on hold due to a Type 3 recall in combination with a stop in production and sale of these products. Spartan is currently investigating a higher than expected rate of inconclusive test results. At present, the root cause of the issue is yet to be determined.

Quidel Sofia 2 SARS antigen test

The Sofia 2 SARS antigen test uses nasal swabs for sample collection (provided with the kit), which are easier to administer than nasopharyngeal swabs. The instruments test one sample at a time and test results can be obtained in 15 minutes. The Sofia 2 SARS antigen test has a sensitivity of 96.7% and a specificity of 100% and an expected shelf life of 12 months from the date of manufacturing.

On October 26, 2020, the Sofia 2 SARS antigen test obtained regulatory approval from Health Canada.

On February 14th, 2021 a contract was awarded to Quidel for the procurement of 850,000 Sofia 2 SARS antigen tests as well as 550 Sofia 2 instruments.

Other point-of-care tests

Additional agreements have also been signed with Inter Medico (144,980 GeneXpert tests) on April 7, and on June 22 with bioMérieux (up to 699,750 tests).

Standard lab testing

Since March 2020, PSPC has awarded more than 100 contracts to support conventional laboratory testing across Canada. That includes swabs, equipment, reagents, consumables and plastics required to help provinces and territories meet the objective of conducting 200,000 tests per day nationally.

Contracts with major suppliers like Roche, bioMérieux, Life Technologies, Qiagen and Abbott have been awarded to secure quantities of products that are in very high demand worldwide.

Contracts with 12 different suppliers have been awarded to procure a total of 38.5M swabs. A total of 37,375,030 swabs have been received so far and 26,296,298 have been deployed.

Automated systems have been procured and installed to increase testing capacity in surge labs located in Winnipeg, Guelph, Ottawa and Lethbridge. In addition, 4 mobiles trucks have been purchased and received to increase testing capacity in hot spots and where there are outbreaks.

Distribution

PSPC is supporting HC in the provision of test kits to organizations leveraging the Essential Services Contingency Reserve (ESCR) electronic platform, warehousing and logistics.

Organizations are registered and approved by HC using the ESCR case management system and order intake tool.

After orders are placed, they are fulfilled by the SCI warehouse, with Day and Ross providing expedited ground transportation for deliveries.

As of May 7, 2021, PSPC has shipped approximately 965,875 Abbott Panbio antigen tests and 134,640 Becton-Dickinson Veritor antigen tests from the SCI warehouse to companies in critical sectors.

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