A staff member checks the packaging quality of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm, in Beijing Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

China will offer the world its COVID-19 vaccines at fair, reasonable prices, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Even though China is facing a huge domestic demand for vaccines, it is willing to do its best to contribute to the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and to make the vaccines a public good that developing nations can access and afford, rather than a "luxury" enjoyed by a small number of countries, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at Thursday's media briefing. 

The costs of vaccines produced with different technologies will vary, Wang said, in response to question asking for more details about the 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that China announced on Wednesday it will provide to COVAX, a WHO-backed international vaccine distribution program.

"China will honor its pledge of making vaccines a global public good and offer its vaccines at fair and reasonable prices," Wang noted.

COVAX reportedly announced on Wednesday its initial plan to distribute at least 330 million doses to developing countries in the first half of 2021.

China hopes that countries with vaccine capacities will take active actions to support the COVAX and help developing countries get timely access to the vaccines, making positive contributions to the international community's fight against the pandemic, Wang said.

Global Times