COMMENT: China walks the talk in supporting global COVID-19 vaccination

COMMENT | Xinhua | China is continuing expanding its aid and support for other countries, especially the developing and least developed ones, in getting access to COVID-19 vaccination.

A shipment of 200,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by China arrived in Zimbabwe Monday. Peru received 700,000 more doses of Sinopharm vaccines Saturday after receiving the first shipment from the Chinese pharmaceutical firm a week ago.

China is providing vaccine aid to 53 developing countries, and has exported and is exporting the jabs to 22 countries, according to the Foreign Ministry on Feb. 8. The country has also decided to provide 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX global initiative to meet the urgent needs of developing countries.

These moves prove once again that China walks the talk as it has pledged to make its COVID-19 vaccines a global public commodity, once they are developed and put into use.

China provides vaccines to developing countries as a responsible big country. China is trying its best to conduct vaccine cooperation with other countries in various ways. Chinese companies are running full-steam to produce more vaccines in light of the limited number of doses available for export, including completed vaccines, concentrates, and semi-completed products. The latter will be processed further in recipient countries.

China’s determination to provide vaccines to others originates from its flagship vision of “building a community with a shared future for humanity.” It addresses the question of how the international community should face turbulence and change and collectively face global challenges. It calls for sticking together through thick and thin and building a world that is open and inclusive.

As China started to provide vaccines to other countries, some Western critics have labelled China’s efforts as “vaccine diplomacy” aiming at expanding the country’s political influence. Such attempts to stigmatize or politicize China’s vaccine development blatantly disrespect the country’s scientists and health professionals. Such unfair remarks against China are not helpful for building up the trust in global communities in the battle against the pandemic, diminishing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world in the most powerful way that we are interconnected, and nobody wins unless everybody wins. The international community has long been cleaved by deep disparities in wealth, education, and access to vital necessities such as electricity and clean water. The provision of COVID-19 vaccines must not aggravate the situation.

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Xinhua