China has announced it is joining COVAX, an initiative by the World Health Organization to ensure fair distribution of vaccines for COVID-19, once they are developed.

The goal is to ensure that all nations, including developing nations can get vaccines, and that 2/3 of the world’s populations will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine by 2022.  The goal is to ensure it’s not only wealthy countries that have access to vaccines.

The United States and Russia are the only major countries not to have joined the COVAX initiative.

Several companies have potential vaccines in clinical trials, with four in Phase 3 trials.  The Phase 3 trials include giving the potential vaccine to a large number of volunteers, to see if the vaccine prevents infection, as compared to the general population.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for approving any vaccine for use against COVID-19.  The FDA has said it will only give approval after thorough testing to prove both safety and effectiveness of any vaccine.