AP: China joins COVAX coronavirus vaccine alliance
“China, which has at least four coronavirus vaccine candidates in the last stage of clinical trials, said Friday it is joining the COVID-19 vaccine alliance known as COVAX. The country signed an agreement with Gavi, the co-leader of the alliance, on Thursday, China’s foreign ministry said. Initially, China did not agree to join the alliance, missing the deadline to join in September. … The terms of the agreement and how China will contribute are not yet clear. Chinese leader Xi Jinping previously said the country would make the vaccine a global public good…” (Wu, 10/9).

Washington Post: In reversal, China joins global Covax initiative to distribute coronavirus vaccines
“…China’s about-face now leaves two leading countries in the vaccine race, the United States and Russia, outside the alliance. Other backers include Japan, Britain, Germany, and the European Union. The White House said last month it would not join Covax because it did not want to be ‘constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.’ Covax is co-led by the Gavi vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the WHO…” (Shih, 10/9).

Additional coverage of China’s move to join COVAX is available from Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Business Insider, The Guardian, Reuters, and Wall Street Journal.