The COVID-19 vaccine donation from China arrives at the Bandaranaike International Airport on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 27, 2021. Sri Lanka on Tuesday received the largest COVID-19 vaccine donation from China which arrived here on board two chartered Sri Lankan Airlines flights, the Chinese Embassy to Sri Lanka said in a statement.(Photo: Xinhua)

China leads the world in the number of COVID-19 vaccinations, in vaccine exports and providing aid to other countries and regions, according to a report on COVID-19 vaccination released by the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Thursday.

China leads globally in the number of vaccinations, with domestic jabs exceeding 1 billion as of June 19, accounting for more than one-third of the total doses administered worldwide, read the Report on the Global Use of COVID-19 Vaccines, jointly written by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY).

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the world as of July 19, 2021 Graphic: courtesy of Boao Forum for Asia

The number of domestic vaccinations administered quickly rose to 1.48 billion as of July 22, taking the vaccination rate in China to 52.9 percent, compared with 26.5 percent of the global population having received at least one dose as of July 20, according to statistics from Our World in Data.

China now accounts for half of the 38 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered around the world each day.

The country is expected to vaccinate 70 percent of its population by the end of the year, said Wang Wen, executive dean of the RDCY, on Thursday.

"Making vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries is one of the most prominent issues in the global fight against the pandemic. Faced with the problem, China was the first to say that it would provide aid to developing countries," said Li Baodong, BFA secretary general, on Thursday.

Developed countries and such groupings as the G20, the G7 and the EU have also put forward plans and goals for vaccine assistance to developing countries.

China's vaccine aid and exports have exceeded the total of other countries, with developing countries constituting the primary export destinations, said the report.

China had exported 252 million doses of vaccines as of May 2021, accounting for 42 percent of its total vaccine output, equivalent to one-sixth of the world's total vaccine output, compared with 99 percent, or 330 million doses of vaccines, used domestically in the US. 

The EU exported 111 million doses, 11 percent of its total vaccine production. Russia exported 35 percent of its vaccine output, or 69 million doses, according to the report.

"Judging from the implementation of plans and intentions, the statements made by many countries and organizations have not been fully translated into reality. According to the data, several countries have made a lot of promises about providing vaccines, but have done little," said Li, noting that the US has a large stockpile of vaccine, and there is a big gap between actual action and its capabilities.

Wang also noted that millions of doses of vaccine were discarded in the US as they had expired. The US originally set out to deliver 80 million doses by June 30, but shipped less than 24 million, said Wang. 

Domestic use and exports of COVID-19 vaccines as of May 2021 Graphic: courtesy of Boao Forum for Asia

The EU's vaccine distribution policy focuses on ensuring inoculation rates for only EU member states. The group mainly exports vaccines to middle- and high-income countries, according to the report. 

"The international community should establish a coordination mechanism to effectively solve the problem of imbalanced vaccine distribution, especially the availability and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines in underdeveloped countries," Shao Yiming, a leading physician and immunologist from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday.

The international media has not objectively or fully reported on the efforts that China has made, Shao added.