As Britain becomes the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, here is a look at what leading non-Western nations are doing in the race to get a vaccine approved.

China has four coronavirus vaccines in phase 3 trials — typically the last step before regulatory approval — but has not released much of its data.

Although regulators have yet to approve China's vaccines for mass distribution, the country has approved some advanced candidates for emergency use, giving jabs to people ranging from state employees to international students since July.

Nearly a million people have already taken an experimental vaccine by Sinopharm, the company said in November. Another firm, Sinovac Biotech, earlier said almost all its employees and their families had voluntarily taken its vaccine.

Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was registered in August and is currently completing the third and final phase of clinical trials, with some 40,000 volunteers taking part.

The vaccine uses two different human adenovirus vectors and is administered in two doses with a 21-day gap. Developers said interim test results showed the vaccine to be 95 per cent effective.

There is not a clear timeline for the vaccination process but authorities expect mass vaccination to start in 2021.