221908 - PHSA 18282 Vaccine Distribution - Notice of Intent

Notice is hereby given that Provincial Health Services Authority (“PHSA”) intends to directly award a Contract to the following suppliers to distribute Covid and Antiviral vaccines to community pharmacies for PHSA for a term of two (2) years from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2028 at an estimated value of $5.68M CAD.

Imperial Distributors Canada Inc.
Unipharm Wholesale Drugs Ltd.
McKesson Canada
Kohl & Frisch Limited
Gamma Wholesale Drugs Ltd
Shopper’s Drug Mart Inc.

In accordance with applicable trade agreements, PHSA has chosen not to proceed with a competitive process for the following reasons:
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to ensure compatibility with existing goods, or to maintain specialized goods that must be maintained by the manufacturer of those goods or its representative.
To ensure the continued supply of these essential services to PHSA with stable pricing, we will direct award the above non-volume committed contract(s) until PHSA completes an upcoming competitive process for future contracts. These contracts will be awarded in the interim as PHSA proceeds with the formal initiation and completion of a competitive procurement process. During this interim period, PHSA acknowledges that it is not feasible to secure reasonable alternatives to supply these essential services and as such requires ongoing compatibility with existing services from incumbent suppliers.

Vendors who wish to challenge this decision should submit a detailed written objection for the attention of Pharmacy, Sourcing, Provincial Health Services Authority, by email before 5:00pm Pacific Time, November 27th, 2025. PHSA will review any and all issues received by this date and provide consideration to each objection.