KEY POINTS
  • Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline announced Wednesday they will provide 200 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the World Health Organization's Covax program.
  • Covax is a global partnership that seeks to deliver 2 billion doses of the vaccine across the world by the end of 2021.
  • It's now competing for scarce doses with some wealthy countries such as the United States that didn't join Covax and are securing doses on their own.
A health worker wearing a protective mask works in a lab during clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, U.S.

European drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline will provide 200 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the World Health Organization's global immunization partnership Covax, which seeks to ensure coronavirus vaccines are distributed equitably across the world, the companies announced Wednesday.

Global health organizations including the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the WHO are leading the Covax effort, which is focused on first vaccinating the most high-risk people in every country. The deal is contingent on the vaccine winning regulatory approval, the companies said in a statement.