China is expending great efforts in the global scramble to develop a vaccine for the new coronaries epidemic that began in its central city of Wuhan, with Chinese researchers conducting five separate clinical trials on humans, or half of all such trials globally, according to the data compiled by the World Health Organization.
President Xi Jinping vowed last month at the World Heath Assembly, the WHO’s governing body, that vaccines China’s develops will become a “global public good” once they are ready for use, and it will be China’s contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.
Developing “a vaccine is still the fundamental strategy in our effort to overcome the new coronavirus,” Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang told a news conference in Beijing.
But vaccine development is very difficult and takes time, he said, when asked how China would initially prioritise shots by country when a vaccine is found.
In a white paper, the Chinese government said the medical cost of all the coronavirus patients in China totalled 1.35 billion yuan ($191 million) as of the end of May.
President Xi last month pledged $2 billion in financial support over the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially to help developing countries.