Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has struck deals with Sinopharm and Sinovac for 110 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccines for immediate delivery to the Covax global vaccine-sharing initiative.

The supply agreements also include an option to purchase up to 440 million more doses from the Chinese drugmakers through the first half of 2022. According to Gavi, the Covax program is expected to distribute more than 2 billion vaccine doses to developing countries by early 2022.

The Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines have received Emergency Use Listings from the World Health Organization, a requirement for participation in the Covax program.