In a statement announcing the Kovacs deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China is confident it may ramp up industrialization. “We are taking this concrete step to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines, especially in developing countries, and we hope that more countries with the ability to join and support Covax,” Hua said.
China’s transformation now leaves two leading countries in the vaccine race, the United States and Russia, out of the alliance. Other supporters include Japan, Britain, Germany and the European Union.
The White House said last month it would not join the WHO-led Kovacs because it did not want to be “constrained by multilateral organizations affected by the WHO and corrupt China.”
The Trump administration vehemently attacked the World Health Organization and withdrew funding after agency officials appeared to repeat the Chinese government’s talking points and praise Beijing’s response to the epidemic, despite Chinese officials. Slips and cover-up in the crucial early days. WHO officials too Locked in TaiwanWhich boasted of exemplary success in controlling the virus, from participating in its forums under political pressure from Beijing.
Although China absorbed severe international criticism after the disease spread from Wuhan in January, the government quickly brought the coronavirus under control at home and began to Aggressive diplomatic effort To fix its image abroad by donating masks and medical equipment.
While international calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus were rejected, the Chinese government presented itself as futuristic and altruistic: Speaking to the World Health Organization Assembly in May, Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised two billion dollars over two years to help the virus. 19 responses and said any future Chinese vaccines would be a “global public good” – a statement the government repeated Friday in announcing its participation in Covax.
The Covax program seeks to equitably distribute a batch of at least 2 billion vaccines to people at high risk in every country. Although vaccine-producing countries will have to participate as part of Covax, participating in the program represents a kind of insurance policy: Countries that fail to produce a home-grown vaccine may be banned if they don’t join Covax.
China has four vaccines in phase III clinical trials, nearly half of the world’s nine vaccines are in the final development stage. The United States and Germany are participating in two multinational projects, while a Russian and another vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in Britain are in the final stage as well.
Vaccine experts have welcomed China’s entry into the program.
Jerome Kim, president of the International Vaccine Institute, an independent non-profit organization founded as part of the United Nations Development Program, praised Bash for describing the vaccine as a global public good and said it is important for China to be an economic powerhouse with many candidate vaccines in the United States. The final stage of testing was showing “solidarity and support” in the fight against COVID-19.
“It is now important that the three organizations leading Covax work to ensure that the Chinese commitment is fully realized – that the vaccine from Chinese manufacturers will meet WHO prequalification standards, that it is safe and effective, and most importantly it can be provided at an affordable price,” Kim said.
