True, the sale was through a distributor. But it seems pretty clear from the PR that Shannon and team were invited by the MOH, and they are training hospital staff, to use the machines.
There is a huge difference between A) a situation in which a distributor likes a product, and thinks that they can sell it eventually, so they buy some merchandise and start attempting to market it;
and B) where a buyer likes a product, and sends a distributor to deal with its producers to buy it for them.
In A), the distributor believes in the product, and has faith that there will be customers. That's the Wood Wyastt case.
In B) the buyer is already "sold" on the product, and needs someone to do the actual purchasing. That's the Saudi situation, as I understand it.
Of major significance is the part in the Saudi article of a few days ago that seems to say (through the awkward translation) that a Scientific Advisory Board commissioned by the MOH advised the Ministry that AS is their product of choice to combat MERS. (Similar BTW to what happened in Alberta). That's what pushed this thing forward, and that's why it's a whole different story compared to the past..IMO.
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