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Chinese research laboratory: "priority" of the country
Photo: WANG ZHAO / AFP
China has joined an international initiative to procure a future corona vaccine for poorer countries.
The People's Republic had joined the Covax initiative because of its promise to "make Covid-19 vaccines a global public good," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, on Friday in Beijing about the agreement made the previous day.
She did not say what amount China is providing.
Covax is led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the vaccination alliances Gavi and Cepi.
By the end of 2021, the initiative aims to acquire two billion doses of vaccine for 92 low and middle income countries.
The aim is also to encourage manufacturers to expand their production capacities through acceptance commitments.
The EU Commission promised Covax 400 million euros at the end of August.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Hua said it was a "priority" of her country to provide vaccines to developing countries.
China hope more countries will join and support Covax.
The US, the world's largest economy, has not yet joined the initiative.
Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic in China at the turn of the year, more than 36.2 million infections with the novel virus have been detected worldwide.
More than 1.057 million people died.
Several possible vaccines against the novel coronavirus are currently in the third and final test phase.
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mik / dpa