Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Russia, are among more than a dozen countries helping to test Chinese-made experimental Covid-19 vaccines undergoing final phase trials.

So far, thousands of people have been injected with experimental vaccines made by China’s three front-running vaccine makers -- or soon will be.

The leading Chinese companies – CanSino, Sinovac and Sinopharm – together have four candidates in phase 3 trials.

This is according to company and government statements and media reports as assessed by South China Morning Post.

Securing limited doses

This rush to be first among these countries is for a practical reason: Approving final phases of clinical trials is one way of securing early access to vaccines.

The limited number of doses of vaccine made available from next year is due to two reasons.

Firstly, a number of wealthy nations have already bought doses pending approval.

Secondly, a World Health Organisation mechanism that many countries are relying on can provide only enough doses for a portion of their populations.

China's Sinovac Biotech, one of the three Chinese drug makers with vaccines in the last stages of testing, said that nations conducting its phase 3 trials would get access to doses at the same time as China, Bloomberg reported.

UAE the first

Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey have started those trials, with Bangladesh expected to begin soon.

The United Arab Emirates is the first foreign country to run a phase 3 trial of vaccines developed under state-owned company Sinopharm.

Its citizens have been administered shots outside the trials under emergency use authorisation.

China promoting vaccine as 'global public good'

The Chinese leadership is promoting China-made vaccines as a “global public good” to increase its influence on other countries.

Despite the uncertainty of the vaccines' efficacy, it appears to be a win-win situation in the event they do work.

Such recipient countries may not need to make significant investments to secure access to doses or manufacturing rights for Chinese-developed vaccines.

However, it is not all about practical alliances.

Giving countries priority access for medical products for participating in clinical trials is standard industry practice.

Ethical calculations dictate that those who help to test if a drug or vaccine works should benefit if it proves successful.

China relying on the rest of the world

China, despite its size, is relying on the rest of the countries to help with testing.

With China no longer having widespread local transmission of the virus, according to official data, Chinese vaccine makers need to find places where there are enough new infections to test efficacy.

Countries relying on more than just China

Going along with China-made vaccines is how some countries hedge their bets.

Brazil, Russia and Peru, for example, have approved trials of multiple vaccine candidates.

For China, though, the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred an entirely new industry into action.

The number of clinical trial arrangements between Chinese companies and foreign partners is notable as China before this had a very little share in the global vaccine market.

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Top photo via Xinhua