The COVAX international solidarity mechanism and the World Health Organization (WHO) will receive nearly 110 million doses of Chinese vaccines.
This is a relief for the COVAX system. In the midst of the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the explosion of the Delta variant, Beijing has just made up for the shortage of vaccine supplies from India.
These millions of doses are produced by the Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm. Under an advance purchase agreement for the vaccines, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance has committed to purchase 60 million Sinopharm doses. These sera will be available from July to October 2021. The agreement with Sinovac also allows for the delivery of 50 million doses in the third quarter of this year, to be available from July to September 2021.
Up to 550 million doses
The agreement between GAVI and the two Chinese pharmaceutical groups also includes options to purchase additional doses in the coming months, according to a statement from the Vaccine Alliance released on Monday. It provides for the purchase of 60 million doses in the fourth quarter of 2021 from Sinopharm and an additional 50 million doses in the first half of 2022, if needed.
In total, some 170 million Sinopharm doses could potentially be procured by the end of the first half of 2021, depending on need.
For the Sinovac vaccine, the total number of doses procured could reach 380 million by the end of June 2022.
ARD/te/lb/abj/APA