Monitoring Desk
BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) has offered free COVID-19 vaccines to China as infections surged following Beijing’s relaxation of its “zero-COVID” policies.
China has yet to respond to the offer, a European Commission’s spokesperson told media persons at a regular press briefing. The spokesperson did not specify the number of vaccines the European Union was offering or their manufacturers.
“Because of the COVID situation in China, Commissioner Stella Kyriakides has contacted her Chinese counterparts to offer European Union’s solidarity and support,” he said.
“This includes public health experts and variant-adapted EU vaccine donations.”
Whether China will accept European Union offer?
To a question of whether Beijing would accept the European Union offer, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning avoided a direct reply, saying that China’s vaccination rate and medical treatment capacity continued to improve and its supplies were enough.
She said China was open to strengthening cooperation and solidarity with the international community” to meet its pandemic challenges better. However, it could “meet the demand of all those who want to be vaccinated.”
So far, China has insisted on using only Chinese-made vaccines for its population.
Last month, Germany provided 11,500 BioNTech COVID vaccines to the German embassy and companies and consulate locations in China for use by German nationals in China.
