CHINA HELPS CEMENT GLOBAL IMMUNITY
In fighting the pandemic, China has been keeping its word in championing international cooperation.
Despite a tight supply and huge domestic demand, China has provided more than 350 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the international community, including vaccine aid for over 80 developing countries and batches exported to more than 40 countries, the latest data showed.
China has also pledged to provide the first batch of 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX, an international initiative aimed at promoting equitable access to vaccines.
Most recently, the first batch of vaccines produced by China's Sinopharm to be delivered to COVAX has rolled off the production line. Those vaccines feature all-English packaging, a new technology that attaches temperature sensors to the vials, and updated product information in accordance with the WHO standards.
A batch of China's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Tunisia on Monday afternoon. Thailand's Chulabhorn Royal Academy said that it would allocate a batch of the Sinopharm vaccines arrived on Sunday to medical, educational and charity organizations.
Three Chinese companies are currently co-producing vaccines with eight countries, according to Mao Junfeng, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China also supports fair and equitable distribution of and access to COVID-19 vaccines globally.
Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva, noted Monday at the ongoing 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council that of all the 2.6 billion doses administered globally, only about 0.3 percent were in low-income countries.
Pointing to a "disturbing trend of vaccine nationalism and stockpiling of vaccine doses" in some developed countries, Chen said China calls for "international development cooperation to help developing countries realize sustainable development goals and mitigate the impact of the pandemic."
