China Helps Ensure Equitable Access to the COVID-19 Vaccines Worldwide

（Written by Guan Qiuyun / Translated by Mo Tingting）Mass COVID-19 vaccinations are the light at the end of the tunnel. However, the need to address the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations around the world is apparent. The practices of “vaccine nationalism” and “self-first” of some rich countries are creating an “immunization gap” among different countries and groups. Under this backdrop, many countries call for “multilateralism”. How do make vaccines useful and affordable global public good? What is the role of Chinese vaccines in the current international environment? This is not only an urgent problem to be solved in global public health governance at present, but also an answer that people urgently want to get.

Multilateralism is needed to fight against the COVID-19

On February 17, 2021, at the UN Security Council Ministerial Open Briefing on COVID-19 Vaccine Issue, Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres put forward the “Global Vaccination Plan” Initiative. It is worth noting that the term “vaccine nationalism” was also repeatedly mentioned at the meeting. 

In the UK, 510 million doses of vaccines have been ordered, about four times the population. In Canada, 410 million doses of vaccines were ordered, 10 times the population. Meanwhile, there are nearly 2.5 billion people in 130 countries have not yet received any vaccine, 95% of vaccinated people are only limited to 10 countries. Rich countries constantly purchased and stockpiled a lot of vaccines which far exceed those countries’ population. All this has led to inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, especially for the least developed countries. 

In contrast, the timely introduction of public health programs that benefit many developing countries, such as the “Global Vaccination Plan” and “China’s Vaccine Assistance Plan”, are an arrangement of “multilateralism”. This showed that the concept of vaccines as a public good of international health has been recognized, and more countries have realized that joining “multilateralism” is more conducive to maintaining their public security. 

For example, the Initiative of COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), launched by WHO in April 2020 has included nearly 190 countries and economies, and contracted for 2 billion doses of vaccines. On February 26, 2021, the Security Council announced the unanimous adoption of a draft resolution on the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, submitted by 15 Security Council members and 97 United Nations Member States, calling for a multilateralist approach to promote vaccine equity. 

Guangming Daily, a Chinese newspaper, said how effective vaccines would be in preventing and controlling the epidemic depends on the attitude of countries around the world on the fair distribution of vaccines. Researchers at Northeastern University analyzed the likely impact of the global distribution of 3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine under two cases: If 3 billion doses were distributed to all countries in proportion to the population, the deaths caused by COVID-19 would be reduced by 61%; If high-income countries had priority access to 2 billion of these doses, deaths would only be reduced by 33%. 

No country can defeat the epidemic alone since the world is getting smaller and more intertwined. Any unilateralist approach of isolation and self-containment will undermine the global defense against the epidemic. Only by practicing “multilateralism” can we ensure that developing countries have equal access to vaccines, reduce the loss of life and economy, enable as many economies as possible to realize herd immunity through vaccination, and restore normal economic and trade and personnel exchanges worldwide as soon as possible. This is not only a moral choice for human beings, but also a rational choice for the world. 

Chinese vaccine brings confidence to the global fight against the COVID-19

The performance of a vaccine depends on its accessibility, effectiveness, safety, adaptability, and duration of protection. When talking about the accessibility of vaccines, convenience and capacity assurance are two aspects that should be measured.

Compared with vaccines developed by European and American countries, Chinese vaccines have the competitive edge in storage and transportation. The inactivated vaccine of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm) can be transported away from light and stored at 2~8℃ for 24 months, which meets the global cold chain system standards and the national conditions of most countries, greatly reducing the requirements for storage, transportation and the cost of vaccines, and improving the accessibility of vaccines.

When it comes to production capacity, China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm) has built high-grade vaccine production plants in Beijing and Wuhan respectively. It is expected that the annual production capacity of inactivated vaccines will reach more than 2 billion doses in 2021, which is comparable to the international production capacity. As more vaccines from Chinese companies have completed clinical trials and been approved for marketing, the total production capacity will exceed 4 billion doses once they are all available. “Based on global population and average vaccination coverage, the capacity could meet more than 40% of global demand,” Feng Duojia, President of the China Vaccine Industry Association, told the Global Times on February 27.

In terms of effectiveness, on December 30, 2020, China National Biotec Group Company Limited (CNBG) announced that the protective efficacy of the inactivated vaccine approved in China was 79.34%, which far exceeded the international approval baseline of 50%. 

As far as safety is concerned, China’s inactivated vaccine is relatively mature and safe after long-term research and clinical trials. Moreover, most vaccines that have been successfully marketed worldwide are inactivated vaccine products.

Speaking of adaptability, China’s vaccine is widely applicable to different countries, populations and ages in the world. Currently, data showed that Sinopharm CNBG has enrolled 60,000 volunteers covering 125 countries at about 18-60 years old in the Phase III clinical trial, all of whom showed good adaptability.

As for protection, the positive conversion rate of the “neutralizing antibody” that can destroy the virus in the body is more than 90% after all the vaccines approved for use in China. That is to say, almost all people can produce antibodies after being vaccinated theoretically.

These impressive data reassured the world of China’s vaccines, and demonstrated China’s contribution to equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. 

Vaccines to people of all backgrounds 

So far, China has provided vaccines for 53 developing countries and exported vaccines to 27 countries. At the same time, China has promised to provide 10 million doses of homemade vaccines to the COVAX, and together with the 10 countries go all out to accelerate vaccine research and development cooperation, actively maintain close communication with the GAVI Alliance, also support the call for the global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to new COVID-19 tools. 

Now China is actively sharing its experience and solutions without reservation, and providing a strong guarantee for the global fight against the COVID-19. China has always been committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, and has shown its responsibility as a major country with a vision to benefit the whole world. Leaders from Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and European countries personally received China’s vaccines, and local people have cast a “vote of confidence” on China’s vaccines. 

In the view of Xu Qingqi, Chairman of the New Asian Strategic Studies Center in Malaysia, China’s moral support to other countries severely affected by the epidemic when China’s epidemic is not yet completely over has fully shown the responsibility and wisdom of a major country, and played the role in international cooperation and mutual assistance.

Just as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized at the virtual UN Security Council Ministerial Open Briefing on COVID-19 Vaccine Issue, “China has never pursued any geopolitical goals in its international cooperation on the COVID-19 vaccine, never calculated any economic benefits, and never attached any political conditions. What we think about the most is to make vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to people in all countries, and make them truly become a people’s vaccine.” 

Source: China-ASEAN Panorama