TOKYO -- Japan, the U.K. and more than 70 other countries plan to form an alliance this fall to jointly procure 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines by 2021, looking to gain financial leverage in talks with pharmaceutical companies.
The partnership, initially pitched around June by Japan, the U.K., Germany, France and the European Union, aims to pool up to $20 billion. The alliance, named Covax, will pay vaccine makers in advance and procure doses for member countries. Supplies for individual nations will be capped at 20% of the population.
