JAKARTA - China has joined the global scheme for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, COVAX. The program is directly supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). The joining of China made the United States (US) even further away from the program.
The latest attempt by China to join the global fight against COVID-19 has also been met with criticism, Reuters reported on Friday. China has an unfavorable outlook on developed countries, a recent survey showed.
"We are taking these concrete steps to ensure fair distribution of vaccines, especially to developing countries and hope that more capable countries will also join in and support COVAX," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
The statement did not specify what support China will provide to the COVAX program. COVAX itself aims to deliver at least two 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 COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than one million people. China is also in talks with WHO so that a domestically made vaccine can also be used for international use.
A total of 171 countries have joined the COVAX program. The participants include about 76 rich countries. But the US and Russia did not join the program. COVAX is co-chaired by the GAVI vaccine alliance, WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
COVAX is designed to prevent national governments from stockpiling a COVID-19 vaccine. The program will also focus on first vaccinating the most high-risk people in each country. But prospects for success are grim at this point as some wealthy countries, including the US, have opted to sign their own vaccine supply deals.
"The vaccine deal is underway and we are rapidly approaching our initial fundraising target to initiate support for low-income countries," said GAVI chief executive, Dr Seth Berkley.
"Joining China also means getting the country to get vaccines through facilities for its own proportion, just like any other country," said a GAVI spokesman.
China has sufficient capabilities to make a COVID-19 vaccine and will prioritize supplies to developing countries when ready, the Foreign Ministry added. At least now China has four experimental vaccines in the final stages of clinical trials.
Two vaccines are being developed by the state-backed China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and the other two are made by Sinovac Biotech SVA.O and CanSino. The vaccines have been given to hundreds of thousands of key workers and high-risk groups, although incomplete clinical trials have sparked safety concerns among experts.
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