An unnamed Chinese expert in vaccines was cited by yesterday’s Global Times reporting that, although the Chinese government has confirmed an annual production capacity of 1 billion doses of its Sinopharm vaccine, “the actual number may surpass or even double it, the expert said.” The expert is further quoted: “As the epidemic has been successfully contained in China, there is no need to promote nationwide inoculations so far. So the vaccines have been exported to countries more in need of curbing the disease.”
The Global Times article went on to report that Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association, has previously told the Global Times that he expected China’s capacity to eventually reach 4 billion doses per year, “covering 40 percent of global demand, based on calculations of the world’s population and average vaccination rates.”
In remarks yesterday to the United Nations Security Council open briefing on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for solving the vaccine deficit and providing greater help to developing sector nations. “What we think about most is to let the vaccines become accessible and affordable public goods for the people of all countries,” Wang said. Xinhua added that “China has taken concrete actions to promote the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, he stressed.”
