A team of experts from the World Health Organization investigating the origins of the pandemic visited a research center in Wuhan, China, on Wednesday, which has been the focus of several baseless theories about the coronavirus.
WHO scientists met with members of the center’s team, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which houses a state-of-the-art laboratory known for its research on coronavirus.
The institute was examined last year, while the Trump administration promoted the baseless theory that the virus could have leaked from a government-run laboratory in China. But many top American officials said in particular that the evidence pointing to a laboratory accident is mainly circumstantial.
Most scientists agree that the coronavirus probably arose in the natural world and spread from animals to humans. Peter Daszak, one of the experts on the WHO team, described the conversation on Wednesday at the Wuhan institute as sincere. “Key questions asked and answered,” he wrote on twitter, without providing details.
One of the people the WHO team met was Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “Bat Woman” for her study of coronaviruses found in bats. In June, Dr. Shi expressed initial fears that the virus might have leaked from the laboratory, according to an interview with Scientific American. Subsequently, checks showed that none of the genetic sequences corresponded to the viruses that team members were studying.
Separately, China announced on Wednesday that it would supply 10 million Covid-19 vaccines to Covax, a global body set up to promote equitable access to coronavirus inoculations.
The decision is “another important measure taken by China to promote fair distribution of vaccines,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also said that the World Health Organization has started to review emergency vaccine authorization. It was not clear which vaccines Mr. Wang was referring to. Two vaccines – made by Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm – have been approved for use in China.