The head of one of China's leading COVID-19 vaccine makers said he is working hard to finalize a contract to provide 46 million doses of his company's "CoronaVac" vaccines to Brazil by the end of the year. Sinovac Biotech's CEO Yin Weidong also said the firm is willing to work with foreign countries on emergency use of vaccines.

A China-developed COVID-19 vaccine could be ready for the public as early as November, as the global race to clear the final round of trials heats up. Representatives of the firms hope their vaccines will be approved after phase 3 trials as early as year-end. The chief biosafety expert at the Chinese Center for Disease Control said that a vaccine would be available to the general public "around November or December." Some of China's vaccine candidates have already been offered to essential workers under an emergency use program.