Hello Global Impact Readers, This week, we look at the rapid development of vaccines to combat Covid-19 and the additional challenges to manufacture and distribute the inoculations worldwide. John Carter Senior Editor Political Economy Covid-19 vaccines: the end of the beginning The first part of the massive worldwide effort to beat the coronavirus pandemic is nearing the finish, with several vaccines for the coronavirus starting to receive regulatory approval for broad public use. Their development in less than a year is considered a modern miracle. But the second leg - global distribution - will prove just as challenging and is likely take much longer. US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have submitted their vaccine candidate for emergency US regulatory approval, which could come as early as mid-December. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives go-ahead, the companies say they can manufacture 50 million doses this year and another 1.3 billion doses in 2021, enough to inoculate 650 million people. Rival Moderna has also submitted its promising candidate to the FDA and expects to receive authorisation to vaccinate Americans this year. Both companies have also submitted test results to European regulators for emergency authorisation. On Wednesday, Britain became the first western country to give emergency approval for domestic use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with the US likely to follow suit in a matter of days. Most countries have their own regulatory authority, but approval by respected regulators like the FDA or the European Medicines Agency can guide other countries as they make their decisions. Chinese vaccine candidates are lagging behind in the authorisation process, in part because they have had to do their clinical trials in foreign countries due to few cases of the disease at home. But China approved Fosun Pharma, the domestic partner of Pfizer and BioNTech, to start clinical trials of their vaccine candidate three weeks ago. Even after receiving authorisation for mass use, the logistics of distributing billions of doses of vaccine globally are daunting. Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines must be transported and stored at super low temperatures - minus 70 to minus 80 degrees centigrade in the former case. This makes distribution extremely difficult and very costly - likely too costly for developing countries, which are likely to have to wait longer for development of a more robust vaccine. Moreover, of the 16 billion vaccine doses that pharmaceutical firms expect to produce next year, 8 billion doses have already been committed to particular countries, largely wealthier developed nations. China has been in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine since the beginning and has already inoculated 1 million of its citizens under emergency use guidelines. But not everyone in China will need to be vaccinated, the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said. Even in the relatively contained area of Hong Kong, the government’s plan to offer free vaccinations to all of the city’s 7.5 million residents will take until the end of 2021 to implement, officials say. China has joined the United Nation’s Covax initiative to fairly distribute vaccines globally, part of Beijing’s “vaccine diplomacy” effort. However, the stakes are high, with questions remaining whether Chinese vaccines will be trusted in neighbouring countries. Success in combating the virus would bring Beijing much goodwill, while failure would have serious implications for its regional relations. The same is true in Africa, where China has developed deep commercial and governmental relationships. Will China help African nations to jump to the front of the queue for vaccines? As with other issues, the race for vaccine development has become a matter of contention between the US and China, with Chinese pharmaceutical companies complaining that they are being smeared by the US, which has charged China with using espionage to steal vaccine technology secrets. So how soon will things get better? Like other aspects of the problem, it’s far from clear. The head of one of China’s leading pharmaceutical companies said the positive effects of vaccinations would be seen as soon as April next year. However, a top World Health Organization scientist believes that there won’t be enough vaccines for a return to normal life until 2022. - South China Morning Post, SCMP - Hello Global Impact Readers, This week, we look at the rapid development of vaccines to combat Covid-19 and the additional challenges to manufacture and distribute the inoculations worldwide. John Carter Senior Editor Political Economy Covid-19 vaccines: the end of the beginning The first part of the massive worldwide effort to beat the coronavirus pandemic is nearing the finish, with several vaccines for the coronavirus starting to receive regulatory approval for broad public use. Their development in less than a year is considered a modern miracle. But the second leg - global distribution - will prove just as challenging and is likely take much longer. US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have submitted their vaccine candidate for emergency US regulatory approval, which could come as early as mid-December. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives go-ahead, the companies say they can manufacture 50 million doses this year and another 1.3 billion doses in 2021, enough to inoculate 650 million people. Rival Moderna has also submitted its promising candidate to the FDA and expects to receive authorisation to vaccinate Americans this year. Both companies have also submitted test results to European regulators for emergency authorisation. On Wednesday, Britain became the first western country to give emergency approval for domestic use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with the US likely to follow suit in a matter of days. Most countries have their own regulatory authority, but approval by respected regulators like the FDA or the European Medicines Agency can guide other countries as they make their decisions. Chinese vaccine candidates are lagging behind in the authorisation process, in part because they have had to do their clinical trials in foreign countries due to few cases of the disease at home. But China approved Fosun Pharma, the domestic partner of Pfizer and BioNTech, to start clinical trials of their vaccine candidate three weeks ago. Even after receiving authorisation for mass use, the logistics of distributing billions of doses of vaccine globally are daunting. Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines must be transported and stored at super low temperatures - minus 70 to minus 80 degrees centigrade in the former case. This makes distribution extremely difficult and very costly - likely too costly for developing countries, which are likely to have to wait longer for development of a more robust vaccine. Moreover, of the 16 billion vaccine doses that pharmaceutical firms expect to produce next year, 8 billion doses have already been committed to particular countries, largely wealthier developed nations. China has been in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine since the beginning and has already inoculated 1 million of its citizens under emergency use guidelines. But not everyone in China will need to be vaccinated, the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said. Even in the relatively contained area of Hong Kong, the government’s plan to offer free vaccinations to all of the city’s 7.5 million residents will take until the end of 2021 to implement, officials say. China has joined the United Nation’s Covax initiative to fairly distribute vaccines globally, part of Beijing’s “vaccine diplomacy” effort. However, the stakes are high, with questions remaining whether Chinese vaccines will be trusted in neighbouring countries. Success in combating the virus would bring Beijing much goodwill, while failure would have serious implications for its regional relations. The same is true in Africa, where China has developed deep commercial and governmental relationships. Will China help African nations to jump to the front of the queue for vaccines? As with other issues, the race for vaccine development has become a matter of contention between the US and China, with Chinese pharmaceutical companies complaining that they are being smeared by the US, which has charged China with using espionage to steal vaccine technology secrets. So how soon will things get better? Like other aspects of the problem, it’s far from clear. The head of one of China’s leading pharmaceutical companies said the positive effects of vaccinations would be seen as soon as April next year. However, a top World Health Organization scientist believes that there won’t be enough vaccines for a return to normal life until 2022.

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Covid-19 vaccines near approval, but now comes the hard part John Carter Senior Editor, Political Economy

5 December 2020 Hello Global Impact Readers, This week, we look at the rapid development of vaccines to combat Covid-19 and the additional challenges to manufacture and distribute the inoculations worldwide. John Carter Senior Editor Political Economy Covid-19 vaccines: the end of the beginning The first part of the massive worldwide effort to beat the coronavirus pandemic is nearing the finish, with several vaccines for the coronavirus starting to receive regulatory approval for broad public use. Their development in less than a year is considered a modern miracle. But the second leg - global distribution - will prove just as challenging and is likely take much longer. US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have submitted their vaccine candidate for emergency US regulatory approval, which could come as early as mid-December. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives go-ahead, the companies say they can manufacture 50 million doses this year and another 1.3 billion doses in 2021, enough to inoculate 650 million people. Rival Moderna has also submitted its promising candidate to the FDA and expects to receive authorisation to vaccinate Americans this year. Both companies have also submitted test results to European regulators for emergency authorisation. On Wednesday, Britain became the first western country to give emergency approval for domestic use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with the US likely to follow suit in a matter of days. Most countries have their own regulatory authority, but approval by respected regulators like the FDA or the European Medicines Agency can guide other countries as they make their decisions.   Chinese vaccine candidates are lagging behind in the authorisation process, in part because they have had to do their clinical trials in foreign countries due to few cases of the disease at home. But China approved Fosun Pharma, the domestic partner of Pfizer and BioNTech, to start clinical trials of their vaccine candidate three weeks ago. Even after receiving authorisation for mass use, the logistics of distributing billions of doses of vaccine globally are daunting. Both the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines must be transported and stored at super low temperatures - minus 70 to minus 80 degrees centigrade in the former case. This makes distribution extremely difficult and very costly - likely too costly for developing countries, which are likely to have to wait longer for development of a more robust vaccine. Moreover, of the 16 billion vaccine doses that pharmaceutical firms expect to produce next year, 8 billion doses have already been committed to particular countries, largely wealthier developed nations. China has been in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine since the beginning and has already inoculated 1 million of its citizens under emergency use guidelines. But not everyone in China will need to be vaccinated, the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said. Even in the relatively contained area of Hong Kong, the government’s plan to offer free vaccinations to all of the city’s 7.5 million residents will take until the end of 2021 to implement, officials say. China has joined the United Nation’s Covax initiative to fairly distribute vaccines globally, part of Beijing’s “vaccine diplomacy” effort. However, the stakes are high, with questions remaining whether Chinese vaccines will be trusted in neighbouring countries. Success in combating the virus would bring Beijing much goodwill, while failure would have serious implications for its regional relations. The same is true in Africa, where China has developed deep commercial and governmental relationships. Will China help African nations to jump to the front of the queue for vaccines? As with other issues, the race for vaccine development has become a matter of contention between the US and China, with Chinese pharmaceutical companies complaining that they are being smeared by the US, which has charged China with using espionage to steal vaccine technology secrets. So how soon will things get better? Like other aspects of the problem, it’s far from clear. The head of one of China’s leading pharmaceutical companies said the positive effects of vaccinations would be seen as soon as April next year. However, a top World Health Organization scientist believes that there won’t be enough vaccines for a return to normal life until 2022.

60 SECOND CATCH-UP • Explainer: How Covid-19 vaccines can win approval from medical regulators • Video: World gears up to distribute Covid-19 vaccines as drug makers await medical regulator approvals • Explainer: Who is in the global competition to develop a coronavirus vaccine? • Infographic: The labs where monsters live

DEEP DIVES

It will be the biggest vaccine distribution plan ever – but can it work? • The stakes are high for Covax, which not only aims to stop the pandemic but at the same time treat nations, rich and poor, fairly and equitably • The programme is about US$200 million short of its US$2 billion 2020 target in finance for poorer countries The plan: stop the Covid-19 pandemic with the largest, fastest vaccine roll-out in history to distribute 2 billion doses across the planet in 2021. The challenge of first developing a vaccine is being taken on by scores of pharmaceutical companies and laboratories around the world. The other step is to get financial backing to buy and fairly distribute doses amid the varying needs of rich and poor nations. Read more

Can China become a leading producer of Covid-19 vaccines? • Coronavirus pandemic and the rise of its big players could be game-changer for Chinese vaccine industry, experts say • Small, fragmented companies and a focus on domestic market have obscured the size of a sector which is one of the world’s largest Hopes are rising that Chinese Covid-19 vaccines may be among the first to receive regulatory approval, but analysts say hurdles remain before China becomes a key player in the global market, even if it produces a successful vaccine. Three Chinese vaccines are now leading the race, with the privately-owned Sinovac and state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) both expecting interim data from their last stages of clinical trials by the end of this year. Read more

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How Unicef is preparing for challenge of getting Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries • Richer nations have already acted to secure supplies, but less developed countries are relying on the Covax Facility to ensure fair access • The UN agency will play a key role in the facility’s distribution chain alongside the Pan American Health Organisation While the world is becoming increasingly optimistic about the chances of an effective coronavirus vaccine becoming available soon, developing countries cannot breathe a sigh of relief just yet. Advanced economies such as the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union have prepared more than enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations through pre-order agreements. Read more

Chinese province’s Covid-19 vaccine scheme could be model for rest of country • The pilot scheme in Zhejiang is offering injections through the local centre for disease control • Vaccines are still undergoing clinical trials but key workers and others will be able to receive the jabs on an ‘emergency’ basis this winter A province in eastern China has started a Covid-19 inoculation programme in an apparent pilot scheme for the whole country. With the vaccines still in the final stage of human trials, Zhejiang has approved the “emergency use” of the vaccine for autumn and winter, Chen Guangsheng, vice secretary-general of the provincial government, said on Friday. Read more

Video: If China’s coronavirus vaccines work, which countries will get them and for how much?

To keep track of the latest developments in the roll out of Covid-19 vaccines, follow our daily coverage on our website or focus on the bilateral relationship here.    In our next newsletter, we’ll look at the outlook for Huawei on the second anniversary of the arrest of company CFO Meng Wenzhou in Canada. We’d welcome your feedback. Email me at globalimpact@scmp.com or tweet me at @scmpeconomy. Plus, be sure to check out our Economy news feed for the latest news and analysis. All the best,  John John Carter Senior Editor, Political Economy

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This newsletter is created and catered for the global news reader. Each issue will feature a news story originating from China that carries a significant macro impact on the rest of the world. We hope to share with you a broader perspective on the emerging topics shaping our world and that we feel are revolutionising the way we understand China.