China has officially joined a global vaccine initiative for distributing 2bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines around the world by the end of next year, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Beijing had joined the initiative known as Covax, making China the largest economy to join to coalition aimed at countering so-called “vaccine nationalism”. The US has said that it would not join the alliance, calling it constraining and overly influenced by the World Health Organization and China.
“This is an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honour its commitment to turn #Covid19 vaccines into a global public good,” Hua wrote on Twitter.
Beijing had initially missed the deadline for joining the Covax initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations. The goal of the alliance of as many as 171 countries is to provide Covid-19 vaccines to a targeted 3% of each participating country’s most at-risk population by sharing the costs of research and distribution among both developed and developing countries.
Joining Covax is a boost for the coalition as well as Beijing’s image. China has come under criticism for delays in its early response to the virus that emerged in Wuhan in central China in late December last year. Beijing’s decision to participate in the WHO-led effort also underlines its rivalry with the US. The Trump administration, which has criticised the WHO said last month that it would not join Covax because it refuses to be “constrained by multilateral organisations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”
Hua, posting on Twitter, a platform that is blocked in China and used by Chinese officials to promote Beijing’s view to international audiences, appeared to allude to the US decision not to join. She wrote: “Even when China is leading the world with several vaccines in advanced stages of R&D and with ample production capacity, it still decided to join Covax.”
The foreign ministry said China would be purchasing vaccines through the Covax scheme for 1% of the country’s population. Speaking at the World Health Assembly in May, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said his country would provide $2bn to Covid response efforts.
Eventually, the Covax initiative aims to give 20% of each country’s most vulnerable population a vaccine. When introducing the agreement in September, WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the scheme would ensure vaccines for “some people in all countries and not all people in some countries”.
With four Covid-19 vaccine candidates in clinical trials, China is among the frontrunners in the global race for a cure for the virus that has killed more than one million people. Health authorities have said a vaccine could be ready as soon as November or December.
Already, tens of thousands of employees at state-owned companies, staff sent abroad, health officials and people in the aviation industry have received experimental vaccines.
Hua said on Friday: “China will continue to work together with Covax partners and contribute its share to the global fight against the pandemic to safeguard all human beings’ safety and health.”