Photo: VCG

At the request of the World Health Organization (WHO), China decided on Wednesday to offer 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX, a WHO-backed international vaccine distribution program, for developing countries in urgent need, a move to boost fair distribution of the vaccines globally. 

“We highly value the call for vaccinations in every country in the next 100 days and that health workers and those at high risk are protected first, which was made by WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. We also value the difficulties in carrying out vaccinations, especially when there will be a massive shortage of supplies in February and March,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference on Wednesday. 

“At the request of the WHO, we decided to provide 10 million vaccine doses to COVAX to help developing countries in urgent need, which is also an important move in promoting the fair distribution of the vaccines and boosting international cooperation in anti-epidemic fight,” he said. 

The WHO has started to review the authorization of Chinese-developed vaccines for emergency use, and Chinese enterprises will continue to actively cooperate with the WHO, and hopes the WHO will finish this work as soon as possible, said Wang. 

As the first vaccines begin to be deployed, the promise of equitable access is at serious risk, Tarik Ja?arevi?, spokesperson of the WHO, told the Global Times in a previous interview by e-mail. 

“We call on countries and manufacturers to prioritize supplying COVAX rather than bilateral deals,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the application of Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac for the conditional market launch of its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine was accepted by China's drug regulator on Wednesday, which is considered as a major step forward in making Chinese vaccines available for public use. 

Global Times