The Department of Health published these documents on the Department of Health website on 16 August.
The ALP claim is false and has been refuted with facts on multiple occasions by multiple parties.
The Department began working with Pfizer shortly after the pandemic began.
There had been constant informal engagements prior to that time, as the email trail shows.
Pfizer advised however, they were not allowed to commence formal negotiations at that time.
On 30 June, Pfizer wrote to the Minister to commence formal discussions. The Australian Government moved immediately to formal negotiations with the first step being to agree and negotiate a Confidentially Disclosure Agreement.
The Department’s first formal meeting with Pfizer was on 10 July after Pfizer wrote to the Government advising they were now in a position to engage formally, while the COVID-19 vaccine candidate was in Phase 1 clinical trials.
Since this time, there have been numerous formal meetings and phone engagements with the company as part of securing supply of the vaccine for the Australian population.
The Australian Government entered into an Advanced Purchase Agreement (APA) with Pfizer for the purchase of their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, whilst ensuring safe and effective vaccines for Australians based on the medical advice from SITAG (the Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group) and the maximum doses available.
As Pfizer’s Statement at the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 hearing on 28 January 2021 states:
‘As Pfizer informed Parliament whilst giving evidence on the record to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 hearing on 28 January 2021, Pfizer proposed to the Australian Government the procurement of 10 million doses of our COVID-19 vaccine and that was the number initially contracted by the Government.
‘The parties have since signed agreements for a further 30 million doses for 2021. Our discussions are confidential, however the supply of vaccine in Australia was developed following consultation with the Australian Government and each agreement was based on the availability of doses and earliest schedule that could be provided at that time.’
The Department has been actively engaged with Pfizer since very early in the pandemic.
These discussions have been extensive and cooperative.
SITAG also met five times to consider in detail the latest data on the vaccine.
As Pfizer has made clear, no earlier doses were available to Australia.
The reference in the letter to the ‘potential to supply millions of vaccine doses by the end of 2020, subject to technical success and regulatory approvals, then rapidly scale up to produce hundreds of millions of doses in 2021’ referred to Pfizer’s global production capacity not what was on offer to Australia.