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BEIJING: China said on Friday (October 9) that it has formally joined the global COVID-19 vaccine facility known as COVAX, becoming the largest economy supporting the initiative to date.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement that China has extensive COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity and will prioritize supplying to developing countries when vaccines are ready.
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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 move by China, where COVID-19 was first reported, comes as it holds separate discussions with the WHO to have its locally produced COVID-19 vaccines evaluated for international use.
It also comes amid international criticism of Beijing’s handling of the pandemic that led to unfavorable views of China soaring in a recent survey of advanced countries.
“This is an important step that China has taken to defend the concept of a shared health community for all,” Hua said.
China will continue to focus on ensuring that developing countries have “equal access to appropriate, safe and effective vaccines,” he added.
The statement did not elaborate on the level of support Beijing will provide for the program. However, President Xi Jinping in May pledged $ 2 billion over the next two years to help deal with the pandemic that has claimed more than 1 million lives to date.
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All vaccines developed and deployed by China will become a global public good, the statement said.
China also pledged to strengthen cooperation on vaccines with relevant countries through the COVAX network.
“China will continue to work together with COVAX partners and contribute its part in the global fight against the pandemic to safeguard the safety and health of all human beings,” Hua said.
China joins 168 countries and regions that have already announced their participation in COVAX, including 76 rich countries that are self-financing.
But neither the United States nor Russia have joined the program.
COVAX is co-led by the GAVI vaccine alliance, WHO, and the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI).
It is designed to deter national governments from stockpiling COVID-19 vaccines and focus on vaccinating the highest-risk people in each country first.
China has at least four experimental vaccines in the final stage of clinical trials: two are developed by the state-backed China National Biotec Group (CNBG), and the remaining two are from Sinovac Biotech and CanSino Biologics, respectively.
It has also inoculated hundreds of thousands of essential workers and other groups considered high-risk, even when clinical trials had not been fully completed, raising safety concerns among experts.
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