The COVAX facility aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021 (Representational)
Beijing:
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the country has formally joined the global COVID-19 vaccine initiative known as COVAX, making it the largest economy to date to pledge its support to help fund doses for countries. low and middle income.
A statement from the ministry did not elaborate on the level of support Beijing will provide, although President Xi Jinping in May pledged $ 2 billion over the next two years to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than $ 1 billion. million lives to date.
“We are taking this concrete step to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, especially in developing countries, and we hope that more capable countries will also join and support COVAX,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. , in the statement.
The COVAX facility, run by the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021.
The WHO had said it had been negotiating with China to bring the country into the initiative, and that Russia and the United States had so far chosen not to join.
Hua of the Chinese Foreign Ministry also said in Friday’s statement that China has extensive COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capabilities and will prioritize supplying from developing countries when the vaccines are ready.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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