Table 4 Cooperation measures taken for COVID-19 among BRICS countries

Health cooperation

1 Sent medical experts:

(1) On Feb 5, 2020, seven Russian epidemiologists arrived in Beijing to help China contain the spread of the virus and develop a vaccine.

(2) On April 11, China sent a 10-member expert team to Russia to exchange experience and provide guidance and training on prevention and control, diagnosis, and treatment.

2 Provided medical supplies:

(1) In Feb 2020, Russia, India and South Africa donated masks and other medical supplies to China. The Brazil-China Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification donated to China.

(2) Since March, China has donated personal protective equipment, nucleic acid extraction reagents and other materials in batches to Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa.

(3) On April 17, India committed to delivering nearly 100 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets to Russia for the treatment of COVID-19.

(4) On May 23, Russia delivered the Coronavirus diagnostic test system to South Africa.

3 Established an early warning mechanism for infectious diseases:

(1) On April 28, 2020, heads of BRICS Foreign Ministries held a special meeting on COVID-19 to support the joint establishment of an early warning mechanism for infectious diseases.

(2) On Sep 9, 2021, the New Delhi Declaration of the 13th BRICS Summit endorsed the progress made in establishing an early warning system for the prevention of large-scale infectious diseases in BRICS countries to identify and predict future pandemics through institutional cooperation.

4 Shared experiences in fighting COVID-19:

(1) China, South Africa, Russia, and Brazil held video conferences for COVID-19 prevention and control.

(2) Experts in the design of Leishenshan Hospital in China, shared construction experience and helped South Africa improve the construction plan of anti-epidemic hospitals.

(3) From March to April 2021, the National School of Governance of China offered courses on national governance and emergency management for middle and senior leaders of South African public organizations.

Vaccine cooperation

(1) China and Russia are working together to develop and produce COVID-19 vaccines; Russia and Brazil carry vaccine cooperation in three aspects: clinical testing, vaccine production, supply to Brazil and the whole Latin American market; The Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” manufactured in India, Brazil, and China.

(2) On July 24, 2020, Brazil launched a clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine from China, which vaccinated 9,000 volunteers within 90 days.

(3) On Nov 17, 2020, according to the Moscow Declaration of the 12th BRICS Summit, we will work to ensure that vaccines, once available, are distributed in a fair, equitable, and affordable manner; We also encourage the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Center to become operational as soon as possible.

(4) The contribution made by BRICS countries in providing over a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, including grants and donations, bilaterally, to international organizations and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility.

Economic cooperation

(1) In April 2020, New Development Bank established an emergency assistance facility, including US $5 billion for health and social security expenditures and US $5 billion to support economic recovery of member countries.

(2) New Development Bank has issued three COVID-19 preparedness bonds and $1 billion in emergency loans to five member countries to purchase hospital beds, ventilators, and protective equipment for frontline medical workers, as well as to mitigate the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and lockdown.