The Chinese government has finalized plans to donate 20,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Dominica. The donation initiative is under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) programme in which China will give out 10 million COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries around the world.
It will be recalled that just last week, the Indian government gifted Dominica with 70,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine which is sufficient for inoculating 35,000 people.
The overall objective of the COVAX programme is to supply 2 billion vaccine doses for vulnerable countries around the world, and this will be funded with donations from wealthier countries. The funding and donation are premised on the fact that coronavirus would remain a global threat if all hands are not on deck to eliminate the pandemic.
Chinese spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said China is trying to use the COVAX initiative to “promote the equitable distribution of vaccines, advance international cooperation in fighting the pandemic, and uphold the concept of a global community of health for all.” He urged richer countries to support the programme and other related initiatives set up by WHO to assist developing nations with the vaccines so that the pandemic can become history in no time.
Wenbin referenced Chinese President Xi Jinping’s conversation with PM Roosevelt Skerrit in which the former promised to facilitate the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines for Dominica and other developing countries in the world. Meanwhile, three Chinese pharmaceutical companies – Sinopharm, Sinovac, and CanSino – have applied to manufacture part of the vaccines for global distribution under the COVAX programme.
This article is copyright © 2021 DOM767
