LTD vaccine candidate for COVID-19 coronavirus is seen on display
at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in
Beijing on September 6, 2020. (Photo by NOEL CELIS /
AFP)
China has signed up to a deal to ensure future Covid-19
vaccines are distributed to developing countries, the biggest
economy yet to join the World Health Organization-led bid to
control the pandemic.
The COVAX pledge to get vaccines to poorer nations as soon as
they are developed aims to head off fears rich countries will limit
distribution of game-changing medicines made by their
pharmaceutical companies.
The deal gives China, the country where the virus first emerged,
a prominent role in the global effort to share vaccines with
less-developed countries.
China joined COVAX to “honour its commitment to turn Covid-19
vaccines into a global public good,” foreign ministry spokeswoman
Hua Chunying said Friday of the October 8 agreement.
She gave no details on how much money China would commit to the
deal, which has a fundraising goal of $2 billion and aims to
provide 92 low and middle-income countries with a future
vaccine.
Biotec Group (CNBG) vaccine candidate for COVID-19 coronavirus is
on display at the China International Fair for Trade in Services
(CIFTIS) in Beijing on September 6, 2020. (Photo by NOEL CELIS /
AFP)
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Chinese vaccines “will be provided to developing countries as a
priority”, Hua said, adding Beijing hopes “more capable countries
will also join and support COVAX”.
Superpower rival the US has not signed up to the deal.
China is racing to find a vaccine, with Beijing making bold
predictions on its rollout before the end of the year.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers, emergency staff and
overseas workers have already been injected with vaccines —
although the leading contenders are yet to complete clinical
trials.
Beijing is facing a storm of foreign criticism over its early
handling of the pandemic and has been trying to reframe perceptions
of its role in Covid-19, which emerged in the central Chinese city
of Wuhan.
China has paraded its success in controlling the pandemic inside
its borders.
Tens of millions of people returned to work on Friday after a
long “Golden Week” domestic holiday seen as a test of consumer
confidence, cutting a stark contrast to many Western nations
afflicted by rolling lockdowns and travel restrictions.
AFP
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