COVAX is co-led by the WHO, Gavi vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. It is part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator under the WHO auspices to bring together vaccine developers from different countries in a common quest for a safe COVID-19 vaccine.

“On October 8, China and the Gavi global alliance signed an agreement on the official accession to COVAX. This is an important step, which has been made by China as part of its promises to make COVID-19 vaccine a public good for the whole world,” Hua said in a statement.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 36.3 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.05 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.