Feds hand Deloitte $16M contract to track vaccines

The federal government has awarded international accounting firm Deloitte a $16-million contract to build a national computer system to manage the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The contract was recently posted to the federal procurement department's website after Ottawa called on companies to submit proposals for developing the system in December.

Federal officials last month defended the existing systems used to track vaccine distribution across Canada, specifically those used for flu inoculations each year.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand and Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the new system would simply add to the effectiveness of those existing tools.

🇨🇦 has received & distributed over half a million #PfizerBioNTech & #Moderna vaccines w/ deliveries continuing weekly. Approx. 1.3M doses will be in the country by month’s end w/ that # doubling by end of Feb.

Here are the delivery numbers broken down ➡️ https://t.co/kTtaCeE5gU pic.twitter.com/UE6M0QvY5Z

— Anita Anand (@AnitaOakville) January 10, 2021

2/2 The end of 2020 marked a turning point for Canada in our fight against #COVID19, with approval of two mRNA #vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech & Moderna, and rollout of initial doses. This good news can help fuel our hope, strength, and resolve for 2021!

— Dr. Theresa Tam (@CPHO_Canada) January 10, 2021

That includes connecting the systems used by different provinces to track and manage vaccine distribution.

While COVID-19 vaccines are already being distributed across the country, the federal government has not said when it expects Deloitte to have the new system up and running.