The Buzz | Xi pledges China will provide 2 billion vaccine doses

President Xi Jinping said yesterday that China will provide a total of two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world within the year, in the country’s latest effort to honor its commitment of making vaccines a global public good by ensuring their accessibility and affordability.
He also said China will donate $100 million to the COVAX global vaccine program for the distribution of vaccines in developing countries.
Xi made the announcements in a written speech delivered to the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation.
As one of the five measures announced by the Chinese president to further support global solidarity against COVID-19 at the Global Health Summit in May, the forum was founded to provide a platform for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.