More than 150 nations join global coronavirus vaccine plan, but US and China absent
- Trump administration has already secured supplies through bilateral deals, prompting accusations of selfish behaviour to the detriment of poor countries
- Vaccine alliance officials say dialogue continues with Beijing on scheme to deliver 2 billion doses around the world by end of 2021
Some 156 nations have joined a global scheme for fair distribution of future vaccines against Covid-19, an alliance led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday, but superpowers China and the United States did not sign up.
US President Donald Trump’s government has already secured future supplies through bilateral deals, prompting accusations of selfish behaviour to the detriment of poor countries.
China, where the coronavirus was first reported, was also missing on the list of 64 rich nations who joined the so-called Covax plan to deliver 2 billion vaccine doses round the world by the end of 2021, prioritising health care workers and the vulnerable.
But alliance officials said dialogue continued with Beijing.
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The scheme would account for about two-thirds of the world population, according to the WHO and GAVI vaccine alliance, which published the list of signatories after a deadline for binding commitments expired on Friday.
Dozens of vaccines are in testing for the coronavirus which has infected about 31 million people globally and killed nearly 1 million, a fifth of those in the United States.
