The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) has said it has signed two advance purchase agreements with Chinese drugmakers Sinopharm and Sinovac to provide Covid-19 vaccines to the Covax programme immediately.

“The agreements, which come at a time when the Delta variant is posing a rising risk to health systems, will begin to make 110 million doses immediately available to participants of the Covax facility, with options for additional doses,” Gavi said in a statement.