China will provide 10 million coronavirus vaccines to developing countries through an initiative co-led by the World Health Organization, called COVAX, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a news conference on Wednesday that China is responding to a WHO request to help provide vaccines to low-income countries.
He did not specify which Chinese vaccine would go to COVAX. During the pandemic, the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has defended the importance of COVAX for the fair distribution of vaccines worldwide. Experts say widespread vaccination will help prevent emerging mutations in strains of coronavirus and ultimately beat the pandemic.
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China has already shipped a large number of doses of its own vaccines, mainly to developing countries. It has made agreements or donations with more than 30 nations, far exceeding the 10 million doses it is supplying COVAX. In Turkey alone, Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. struck a deal to sell 50 million doses.
Its global efforts are seen by many as an attempt to boost China’s reputation as it seeks to repair its image after the first cases of coronavirus were detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. In the beginning, during the pandemic, China donated face masks and protective gear to countries around the world as part of a diplomatic boost.
Wenbin said that the WHO is investigating emergency approvals for Chinese vaccines, although the products have received criticism for lack of data from end-stage tests.
A vaccine developed by Sinopharm has been authorized for use in China, and the company said the vaccine is 79.3% effective. The Sinovac injection, in particular, raised concerns after initially announcing a 78% efficacy rate for protection against symptomatic diseases, but after counting the mild cases, it announced that the efficacy is just over 50%, based on its testing in Brazil.
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WHO plans to distribute 2 billion safe and effective vaccines to developing countries through COVAX in 2021. AstraZeneca has already agreed to supply 170 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, Pfizer has signed a contract to provide 40 million doses and Johnson & Johnson signed a memorandum of understanding for 500 million doses of its unique vaccine. The agreements follow other agreements, such as 200 million doses from the Serum Institute of India and 200 million doses of the candidate vaccine Sanofi / GSK, according to the WHO.
Shipments are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.