The move may signal China is accelerating the vaccine to hit the general market soon, but a false impression of the vaccine’s safety may be potentially misleading, says one regulatory expert.

Pharma is looking to GAVI to oversee a fair distribution and avoid ‘vaccine nationalism’ – but countries can still sign bilateral deals with companies.

Ramp-up is possible thanks to increased internal capacity and network of voluntary licensing partners including Mylan, Cipla and Dr Reddy's.