China Joins WHO’s COVAX Vaccine Program

China has signed on to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX vaccine program, making the U.S. and Russia the only major world powers that are shunning the global initiative. The $18 billion program aims to vaccinate two-thirds of the world’s population against COVID-19 by the end of 2021.

The Chinese government did not give details on the scale of its commitment to the program. But in May, China’s President Xi Jinping pledged to spend $2 billion the next two years to combat the coronavirus.

The COVAX initiative is spearheaded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the international vaccine alliance. The Trump administration, which withdrew from the WHO in July, announced last month that it won’t be joining the international program.