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Opinion | China should treat coronavirus vaccine data transparency as a matter of science, rather than politics
- As Chinese vaccine makers align with best global practices, China’s reputation will be bolstered by the data quality and transparency
- China should also work with other countries to establish commonly accepted rules for international travel by fully vaccinated individuals
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The announcement on July 12 that Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, had signed advance purchase agreements with Sinopharm and Sinovac was a significant marker of progress for China’s vaccine industry.
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Prior to that, each Chinese company also made the World Health Organization’s list of Covid-19 vaccines approved for emergency use.
Under the agreements with Gavi, Sinopharm and Sinovac will begin to make 110 million doses immediately available to participants in the Covax Facility.
If necessary, up to 170 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and up to 380 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine could be distributed via Covax by the first half of 2022.
Covax, an effort to ensure equal vaccine access for developing countries, earlier had its delivery arrangements hampered by delays due to the severity of the Delta variant in manufacturing countries including India; it is now on track to deliver more than 2 billion doses by early 2022.
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Although the supply of vaccines remains tight, more than 90 lower-income participants in the programme stand to benefit.
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