On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that China will loan $1 billion to Latin America and the Caribbean for COVID-19 vaccine access. The Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry published the information in a statement following a virtual gathering between the leaders of the region. Wang Yi stated that the vaccine developed in China will have universal access, and that China is dedicated to supporting access to the vaccine for Latin America, a region currently struggling to contain and address the pandemic.
Latin America has suffered greatly as a result of the pandemic. Latin America became the epicenter of the global pandemic in late May, and analysis by Johns Hopkins University found that Latin America and the Caribbean have suffered more COVID-19 related deaths than the US and Canada. Brazil has the second-highest number of cases globally, with more than 2.2 million infected. Meanwhile, a Chinese biotechnology company Sinovac has recently begun a Phase 3 vaccine trial.
Read More: China offers $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for access to its Covid-19 vaccine
