Chinese vaccine makers Sinovac, Sinopharm, CanSinoBio apply to join WHO’s COVAX scheme

BEIJING — China said on Wednesday three drugmakers had submitted applications to supply their COVID-19 vaccines to global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX in the country's first formal move to provide locally developed shots to the initiative.

Sinovac Biotech, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and CanSino Biologics have filed applications to join the scheme, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference on Wednesday.

The COVAX mechanism, coordinated by WHO and the GAVI vaccines alliance to support poorer countries, is funded by donor countries, multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, and private charities.

It has raised $6 billion so far and is due to start rolling out vaccines to poor and middle-income countries in February, with 2 of 3 billion doses expected to be delivered this year. — Reuters