The international community must fight the coronavirus pandemic together, oppose disinformation and vaccine discrimination, and raise the vaccination rate, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

Qin, as representative of State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, made the remarks at a virtual meeting on the new coronavirus variant Omicron hosted by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Noting that Omicron is rapidly spreading around the globe and has caused a very severe situation, Qin spoke of the urgency to ensure ample supply and fair distribution of vaccines.

"Up till now, China has provided nearly 2 billion doses of vaccines for more than 120 countries and international organizations, making China the largest supplier of vaccines to other countries. Most of the vaccines obtained by developing countries are from China," he said.

China recently announced that it will donate an additional 100 million doses of vaccines to fellow developing countries on top of the $100 million in donations to the international alliance known as COVAX. It will also provide another one billion doses of vaccines to Africa. 

"Now for the 5.6 billion shots of COVID-19 vaccines administered outside China, one-third of them were provided by China," the ambassador said.

He also called for major countries to shoulder their responsibilities, take the lead to provide vaccines for low- and middle-income countries, and help them foster production capacity. 

Saying that Omicron poses a new challenge to Beijing Winter Olympic Games, he stressed that China will take more effective measures to protect athletes and guests from all participating countries. 

"We are confident to host a streamlined, safe and splendid Winter Olympics," he said.