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 Beijing's latest bid to join the global fight against the
coronavirus follows criticism over its handling of the pandemic,
which has contributed to a growing unfavourable view of China in
advanced nations, a recent survey showed.
"We are taking this concrete step to ensure equitable distribution
of vaccines, especially to developing countries, and hope more
capable countries will also join and support COVAX," foreign
ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
The statement did not detail the support Beijing will provide to the
COVAX programme, which aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of
vaccine by the end of 2021.
In May, President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion over the next two
years to tackle the pandemic that has killed more than 1 million
people.
China, where the virus was first reported late last year, is also in
talks with the WHO to have its domestically made vaccines assessed
for international use.
As many as 171 nations have joined the programme to back equitable
access to COVID-19 vaccines for rich and poor countries alike.
Participants include about 76 wealthy, self-financing ones, but
neither the United States nor Russia.
COVAX is co-led by the GAVI vaccines alliance, the WHO and the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
It is designed to discourage national governments from hoarding
COVID-19 vaccines and to focus on first vaccinating the most
high-risk people in every country.
But its prospects of success had been dim until recently, as some
rich nations, including the United States, chose to sign their own
supply deals.
"Vaccine deals are underway and we are fast approaching our initial
fundraising target to jumpstart support for lower-income countries,"
GAVI's chief executive, Dr Seth Berkley, told Reuters in a
statement.
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"What seemed like an impossible challenge just a few months ago - ensuring every
country, rich or poor, gets equitable, rapid access to COVID-19 vaccines - is
now becoming a reality."
The move also means China "will be procuring vaccines through the facility for a
proportion of their own population, just as with other countries," a GAVI
spokesman said.
China has ample capability to make COVID-19 vaccine and will prioritise supplies
to developing countries when they are ready, the foreign ministry added.
China has at least four experimental vaccines in final stages of clinical
trials.
Two are being developed by state-backed China National Biotec Group (CNBG), and
two by Sinovac Biotech <SVA.O> and CanSino Biologics <6185.HK> <688185.SS>.
It has also inoculated hundreds of thousands of essential workers and other
high-risk groups, though incomplete clinical trials have provoked safety
concerns among experts.
(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps)
(Reporting by Colin Qian, Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo in Beijing and Stephanie
Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Miyoung Kim and
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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